Room 11 & The Weather

Tonight, CIEE (the program coordinating my study abroad experience) took twenty or so of us out to a Room 11 concert. They are a Dutch band similar to/reminds me of a combination of Feist, Norah Jones, and Pink Martini. Most of the lyrics are in English, which was nice, and the lead singer was so cute- pink-tights-and-cowboy-boots-cute. The concert was actually really great, everybody seemed to have a good time clapping and dancing. Our seats were up in the very top of the theater where the grading of the seats was really steep, almost to the point where I thought I was going to fall foreward and onto the floor seats. Overall, a great night and I reccomend the band to everyone. As we all stepped out of the theater, one strike, two strikes of lightning touch the horizon followed too soon by a thick rumble of thunder. Sara, Caroline, and I RAN to our bikes to try and beat the rain. Just after our first meters of pedaling, fat drops of rain came pelting down. The bike ride from the theater is only about five or six minutes, but I can assure you that they were some of the worst minutes of my life. The rain quickly transformed into ice and hail accompanied by the slickest wind. I had hail in my eyes because it was coming straight into my face. The last four minutes of the bike-ride were an endless barrage of ice to my face, neck, and hands. I thought the whole "bad weather" phenomena had passed with last week's 54 degrees and sunny, but I guess it's as they say April showers (and late March hail storms) bring may flowers. And I can't wait to go riding in the tulip fields.
CIEE has planned a few more of these cultural outings: this weekend they are taking us the to infamous delta-werken, or the mechanism that keeps the Netherlands above sea level, where we get to learn about the Dutch fight against the sea, which is apparently their biggest enemy. Then on the first of April they are taking us to a Netherlands vs. Macedonia soccer game. And it's all for FREE!
Here's a list of things (commodities and abstract ideas) I miss about America: Chips and Salsa, vietnamese food, driving, milkshakes, the heat, the real ocean, seafood (because it's way too expensive here), ovens (because our student flats don't have them), being able to afford to live a normal life (because the dollar is so weak and growing weaker by the minute)...
Things I will miss about Amsterdam: biking everywhere (which I plan on importing), stroopwaffles (delicious cookies- a pack of 10 for 67 euro cents), free museum entrance (with my museum card), brick buildings, sapori sandwiches (but I think we can re-create those)...

When in Belgium

Saturday morning I woke up around 6 am to board the bus heading to Brussels. Sara, Justin, Alex, Alex Minton, Caroline and I planned a trip to Brussels and Bruges: one night, two days in the country of chocolate, waffles, and french fries. The round-trip bus ticket was only 22 euros and it was entertaining. Our bus driver was french and only spoke french and at one point woke everybody up to make us all get off the bus because it was good for us. We arrived in Brussels around 11 am but, immediately boarded the train to bruges because that was where we found a hostel. Bruges is definitely beautiful and fairytale-esque. Mideaval brick houses, cobbled streets, canals, chiming bell towers. It was charming and expensive. Alex, Alex, and I climbed the bell tower to check out the view. We all walked around taking pictures of the cute buildings and had a manditory stop for some Belgian chocolate. On our way to Bruges we met some other American students studying in Amsterdam who were also staying in the same hostel we were and returning to Amsterdam on the same bus as us, so we met up with them in the evening to meander thy city searching for cheap eats. Everywhere we stopped either couldn't accomodate all eight of us or the menu prices soared over our college student budgets. We ended up eating fast food (bleh!) because it was the only reasonably priced meal in the whole city- we probably walked around for at least an hour and a half trying to find anything under 10 euros. After dinner, we stopped in at a bar and had some Belgian beer before we headed back to our hostel. The hostel also had a bar which was full of people and a really great DJ so we ended up hanging out down there until about 1 am. When we finally got to our room (Caroline, Alex Minton, and I shared one room), we could still hear the music from the hostel bar as loudly as if we were still in the hostel bar and none of us actually fell asleep until the music stopped playing around 4 am. I know that I only payed 15 euro for my bed, but I didn't expect to feel like I was sleeping on the dance floor. We woke up, exhausted from the previous day full of walking and also from the fact that the three of us hadn't quite slept and took the train back the Brussels- I couldn't wait to speak french!
Probably the greatest thing about Brussels is it's grandeur: everything is big and shiny, even the sky looks higher up there. The buildings are taller, there are hills and palaces, big Parisian style parks, and people speak French and there are lots of delicious and cheap waffle stands. In Brussels, I took over trip-mom duties from Sara. I took control of the map and dragged all eight of us (including new friends Arjay and Beth) across the city; we saw the gothic Hotel de Ville and the cathedral, le Palais de justice, Ste Catherine, le Palais Royale, etc., but we literally walked around the city center at least 2 times and by the end of the day our feet were really really sore. We stopped for some dinner at a thai restaurant and then walked all the way to the bus station. Brussels was really pretty and nice change from flat/brick/canal/cold/damp Amsterdam and nice to see once, but I can't say that I'm dying to go back. Next trip: Dublin for Easter, we'll see how that turns out.

Noordermarkt en Uitsmijters

This morning I woke up really early (around 9 am) to go to the noordermarkt with my friend Alex. I unluckily and accidentally shrunk my warm winter coat while trying to wash it and have been coatless for the last two weeks. Despite various efforts to locate a new coat, I wasn't having any luck and finally convinced myself that the Dutch stop selling coats in March in an effort to call in warmer weather or somethin. Sara also tried to convince me that I wouldn't need a new coat soon because Spring was on its way- I am not convinced that this will be true because today, March 9, the wind was literally howling and I could barely pedal my bike forward against it. As a final attempt at locating some form of a warm coat, I went to the noordermarkt- the flea market of flea markets. I found a very plain black peacoat right off the bat and a really nice shirt all for 10 euro! Unbeatable. After my success (and Alex's lack thereof), we went searching for some coffee/brunch in the neighborhood of the market. The market is located in the Jordaan which is a very trendy neighborhood with many art galleries, trendy shops, coffeeshops, the Anne Frank House, etc. We went into a farily empty cafe ordered up some coffees and remembered our program coordinator and our Dutch professor mentioning a typical Dutch breakfast dish called an uitsmijter. We ended up splitting one, but one was definitely enough. The uitsmijter was, in this case, three fried eggs atop a giant slab of ham/bacon and toast covered in melted cheese...delicious. The best breakfast I'd had in a long time. Overall, a great morning.
After brunch, I dropped off Chiara's bike (she left and we had a great time) and went to the hardware store because my adapter (american plug to european plug) broke off in the socket for the second time. So now I have one of the prongs from the male side of the adapter stuck in the socket right next to my beg- is that safe?
I also bought a ticket for Dublin tonight. Justin, Sara, and I are flying to Dublin and will be there for Easter. We're not sure that being there for the second biggest catholic holiday of the year will be amazing or not fun at all, but we're pretty sure it will be really fun.

Koffie met Nederlandse studenten

I had a breakthrough day today. Besides sleeping through my alarm and almost missing my first class, I was asked by several Dutch students after my second class to have coffee with them! During orientation, the program directors told all of us Americans that it was quite difficult to meet Dutch people because they were... unfriendly (which doesn't seem possible). The Dutch may be unfriendly toward American tourists, but, so far, they have been nothing but kind. I usually stay after my framing the Latin American city class a) to chat up my beautiful young Spanish professor who always seems to come to class wearing low cut v-neck sweaters and b) to photocopy all of the reading (since the prof. hasn't quite figured out scanning and refuses to use blackboard). After photocopying the readings with the usual stay-after-class-to-copy-all-of-the-readings club, they invited me to have coffee with them. I forgot my wallet, but agreed to go anyways, so as not to miss the oppurtunity, and they all offered to pay for my coffee. I learned that most of them, 3/5, study in Utrecht and commute to Amsterdam for our Friday class. We talked about Los Angeles, which I am convinced is also a Latin American city, biking, learning Dutch (which they were impressed with), and the best clubs and parties to go to in Amsterdam. I am proud that I mustered up the courage to go out with complete strangers- I hope that they ask me again.

Ik woon in Amsterdam, maar ik kom uit Amerika

I know it's a little late in the game, but it's never too late to start blogging. I am in Amsterdam studying at the Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) in the International School for Social Sciences and Humanities (ISHSS). I am currently taking four classes: beginning dutch, art of the 20th century, urban anthropology, and framing the Latin American city. So far, I love all my classes and am especially fond of all of my professors. I live in a student flat right near the center of the city (which is really lucky) on Prins Henrikadde, which is the main thoroughfare in the northern part of the city. I live at the flag on this map and as you can see it is very central to everything. My classes are a maximum five minute bike ride away, two of them are in the building where I live. My roommate, Deniz, is from Turkey and is studying for her masters in Law.

I've already been here for over a month, so I can say that I have definitely settled in and figured out some semblance of a routine. I have made a few new friends, Caroline who goes to Kenyon, Alex from USC, Marlee from Bates, Anya from Sarah Lawrence and Sara, Alex Manthei, and Justin who all go to Occidental as well but whom I didn't really know before coming here. Many of us have classes together but most of the time we spend together is cooking extravagant meals on an American student budget which seems nearly impossible in Europe.

My sister came to visit this week- she took the week off from school, parent approved school skipping, to come stay with me. So far we haven't really done too many touristy Amsterdam things. We tried to go to the zoo yesterday, but it was much too cold. We drank coffee near the zoo, though and ate some delicious sandwiches at Sapori where I go at least once a week (yesterday I got an artichoke, bresaola, and arugula sandwich). After lunch, I took her to the photography museum yesterday (FOAM) which was exhibiting a fantastic collection of Richard Avedon photographs. Though she was initially reluctant to go, I think she really liked it- we borrowed Caroline's museum card which got us in for practically free which was a plus. We tried to go to the Van Gogh museum today but she wasn't feeling well- we'll try again on Saturday after the organic market/delicious apple pie at the noordermarkt. Mainly we've been wandering around trying new cafe's and restaurants. She rented a bike and has been maneuvering fiercely throughout the city.

My favorite places so far are: the Amsterdam Public Library, it's a very modern structure with a great view of the ciy and a vast collection of cd's, dvd's, and books in English. Skek, a fun studenty bar near central station which is filled with DUTCH people and not American tourists. I get to practice my Dutch skills (mag ik een biertje alsjeblieft/ ik wil graag een biertje- may I please have a beer). It also has a funky loft with big cushy bean bag chairs and often there is live music.

I'm off to Dutch class, but I look forward to updating soon!