double edged sword.

I can't believe I have 2 weeks left here. PRETTY crazy. It hasn't felt like four months. Well, not today at least. That feeling always changed day to day. Sometimes I feel like I've been here forever but sometimes I feel like I haven't seen half of Amsterdam. It's the whole double edged sword talk I had with Anthony.

He asked me what the biggest thing I'll miss when I leave Amsterdam.

Of course, I said the access to weed and hoes... ha minus the hoes. but besides that, i said, the fact that i'm away from everything familiar.

That small point has been my biggest struggle but most growing experience I've ever had. Its the only thing that has made me smile the most and cry the most.

By being away from everything familiar, I've been able to open my eyes to things i've never thought of, explore places and cultures i've never thought possible, and see myself as independent from my environment. I made friends with a lot of people that are a lot different from friends back home. They brought me out to the most random and absurd adventures that would prolly never cross my mind back home. explore various cultures and lifestyles- queer, squatter, dutch, whatever. i definitely got to understand the world and different types of people through these people and i love it. And the biggest thing i realized was how dependent i was on people back home on me and the way i see myself. cuz once i got here, i tried to play the same roles i do with my friends back home but it wasnt the same. the dynamics were completely different. that scared me for a long time thinking man.. maybe i dont fit in with these people.

but honestly, i realized that i saw myself in such a bubble that there are so many different sides and qualities to me that allow me to adapt to different groups. i cant have such high expectations of myself to play certain roles in these separate groups.

So besides the struggle of self identity, i will admit that i wasn't able to find those really close one or two friends that i could connect with immediately. many times, it's not too difficult for me to bond with someone but here, it was. i couldnt find those connections that i found when i've traveled before. that was definitely really hard to struggle with. i couldnt express myself, my personal thoughts, my personal struggles with anyone i thought was close enough to listen. and i definitely went through some heart hurting and painful struggles that i needed to let out. but i guess in the end, it allowed me to reevaluate the situations by myself. i was able to see myself at my most emo or when the pain was heaviest on my heart and get through it alone. it made me dependent on myself and no one else. i can say it definitely made me a stronger person and my self-identity a lot clearer.

this past week i kept telling myself that the closer it gets to going home, the more homesick i get.

its true but fuck that... im in amsterdam and there's too much to see with only two weeks left. i'll be back with familiarity soon so take advantage of the side of the sword that makes me smile and that means some crazy exploration of the crazy cultures enriched in amsterdam.

next up,

anarchist sauna
OT301: squatter party
De Peper: squatter vegan restaurant

fuck

everythings at my the tip of my senses. i can see her. her gentle eyes, her peaceful smile, her gaze at her loved ones knowing that she's satisfied leaving with those around her as her last sight of the life well lived. i can touch her. her well worn arthritic hands, holding them as a piece of solidarity knowing that we're in this together.

if only my loved ones could look in my eyes and understand that im hurting too. and that im sorry.

Sharing Eyeliner and Conversation with Andreo over a Cerveza

Last week I spent a week in Spain- 4 days in Madrid and 3 in Barcelona. Madrid was Amanda, Lena, Hamed, and me. Barcelona was just Amanda and me. Had an amazing week I won't lie- full of museums, tapas, hostels, architecture, practicing spanish, seeing old sc friends and vampires. wait.. what?

Here's my interview with a vampire.
In Madrid, we stayed in a 14 bed- room. The person that was on the bunk below me was named Andreo. We made small talk.. found out he was from Rome. we had a huge language barrier but it opened me up to being able to say things in 19 different ways. He asks me for "a pencil for the eye" so I gave him my eyeliner. He puts it on and proceeds to paint his nails black. When he's done, he asks me, "Cerveza?" so we go down to the hostel bar for a beer.

So I ask him what the deal is with the eyeliner and nail polish and he says "its part of my style. im dark." im like okay.. thats cool not really knowing what that means... i then ask him where he's going after Madrid and whether he's going back to Rome and he says that he'll never go back to Rome. I ask why and he touches his heart and says "it's dead." i dont ask too much about it and we continued small talk. I asked him why he keeps saying he's "dark" cuz I thought he was pretty normal. He looks a little surprised and says, "you think im normal? i dont think so.. im dark.. im a vampire." I asked what that meant and he says "blood is like heaven to me."

I was intrigued but at the same time didn't really know what to say so I just asked him more on why he won't go back to Rome. He explains how he had a girlfriend of 5 years from 16-21 and she passed away a year ago. i asked how but from the language barrier, all i could get out of it was "in her sleep." She was the first to drink his blood. After a year, he explained his amount of pain to me and my heart dropped. He was torn up about it and you could tell. He says that he has tried dating but no one will ever compare to Sylvia. His heart "is dead" and I felt it.

He asked me if I was scared of him. Honestly I wasn't. He was a nice guy and i considered him harmless. I told him that and he looked surprised. I told him that you gotta trust that people are good and he reassured me "yes, I'm a good person."

so that was my experience with Andreo. Maybe one of the most intriguing people I've ever met.

Okay moving on to the other parts of our trip. Madrid was fun. I got to see Blanca!!! It was so refreshing to see her. Another familiar face that I've missed SO much. She took us to a really old school bar that does this little performance when they play "singin in the rain." We went to a bunch of sites of course:
Prado Museum- Velasquez, Botticelli, etc.
Retiro Park
Sol
Plaza Mayor- for chocolat con churros *st. gines chocolateria
Gran Via- shopping!
Museo Reina Sofia- Picasso's Guernica, Dali, Gris, etc. *awesome museum

We also got to go to Kapital Theater- the 7 floor night club. Super fun! good dance fix.

Barcelona was great. Amanda and I took the city at a good pace each day. I enjoyed Barcelona more than Madrid just cuz its more visually appealing. We visited many of Gaudi's creations:
Sagrada Familia
Casa Mila
Park Guell- our favorite place
Barceloneta Beach
Montjuic
Palacio Nacional
La Rambla
Plaza Catalunya
Plaza Espanya
Port Olympico

more to come later... im sleepy.

History Sometimes Repeats Itself

I went to Berlin this weekend with Amanda and some friends. Berlin is probably one of my top 5 cities I've been to. I can't really pinpoint what the charm is but overall, i loved my experience. It's so rich with history, especially recent history, and the city is just beautiful.

We stayed at CityStay Hostel in Mitte which literally means the "middle" of Berlin. It had the best location... very central to everywhere you want to go. That night we ate at a Vietnamese place called Monsieur Vuongs. It's supposedly pretty famous and was pretty damn good.




Pergamon Museum

The next day we had the most fabulous meal at a steak place called The Block House. Man do I miss steak. It was such a fulfilling meal. We then headed off to shop a little bit at a thrift store area. Bought nothing, unfortunately. We went on the Sandeman's NewBerlin Free Walking Tour. It was incredible. Our tour guide was named Per and he was probably the best tour guide I've ever had. Really knowledgable, enthusiastic, and helpful. He answered any question anyone had and was very sociable. You could tell he was in love with the city. This was a great tour because it was free and all they make their money on are tips. They have these tours in 7 cities all around Europe so I suggest taking them!



Berlin Wall




Checkpoint Charlie




JR in Berlin. This one's for my buddy.



Holocaust Memorial


That night we did the pub crawl. super fun. super drunk. amanda included. the end.

Saturday morning on our way to meet a tour we had to hop an little fence on an island in the middle of the street and Amanda had a little accident. Thankfully, she's okay. We ended up going to Sachsenhausen Concentration camp on a 6 hour tour. It was an overwhelming experience. Unfortunately, not much remains of the camp but we did get to see the area, some barracks, and memorials. Regardless, it was an interesting experience hearing the stories of what happened, how so many people were executed, and having a very small sense of what they saw when they were in the camp.




Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp


That night we had this huge sushi meal. We were all craving it and we saw a 2for1 place so we ordered a bunch. We completely misunderstood what 2for1 meant and our waitress gave us everything we ordered TIMES TWO! she even warned me that i ordered too much but i was like nah... but she was right. i definitely got my sushi fix for this semester.




Sushi

We then ventured onto a club called 2BE Club. We stood in line and Amanda and I got in first. As we were paying the security guard calls me back saying "the man can't go in." I came back out and wondered what was going on. My friends were all outside the line. My friend Lena tells me, "Hammad can't get in cuz he is Middle Eastern."

First time I've witnessed discrimination like that. I couldn't really believe it. I was shocked and pissed at the same time. Especially in Berlin. After going to the Concentration camp. It was just disappointing. If you go to Berlin, don't support this place.

Me: "Top person you'd like to shroom with?" James: "You three."

It's been awhile since I've last written but its been a busy busy couple of weeks! Jessica, Rich's sister, came to visit so I got to play host for 4 days. It was fun having her here! I took her to the Pancake Bakery, Abraxas, and the traditional Dutch place for dinner. All the top spots I take visitors to. She toured on her own while i was in class and we usually met up after.

I admire how independent Jessica is. She traveled alone after I met her up at Oktoberfest for about a week and from the looks of it, had a blast. When she was in Amsterdam, she totally handled it. Got back to my place at like 3 in the morning without needing help or directions. Completely self sufficient which is pretty cool. At first I felt like I had to worry being that she doesn't really know the city and all but she pretty much handled Amsterdam like its nothing.

We shared a pretty awesome experience while she was here. A normal Tuesday started with having class then I met up with some friends and Jessica at a cafe where we had some tea and food. I'm just chatting it up until bam! a bird shit on me! it was gross... birds hate me i swear. it totally shat... some got in my hair and on my sleeve. what a jerk. but i believe in one culture, when birds shit on you its supposed to bring you good luck. way to be positive.

But it did bring me luck in a way. cuz Tuesday turned out to be the most interesting and exhilarating day of my life. I got to shroom for the first time. We bought them from a smartshop called Innerspace close to Waterlooplein. We ended up getting the Thai shrooms which I recommend for your first time. The guy there was extremely informative answering all the questions we had for him. He actually suggested making the shrooms into a tea but instead, we headed to Vondelpark and ate them raw.



Jessica invited a friend, Ablayzah from Quebec, that she met in Paris and he brought a friend, James from Australia, that he met in Amsterdam. It was basically the four of us together the whole day. It only took about 15-20 minutes for it to kick in. We each had about 2/3 a box and they taste like regular raw mushrooms. Not really appetizing but not too bad either. When it first starts kickin in, the grass just starts coming at you at waves... very systematic and patterned. Then the trees start up and it starts to look like nature is growing before your eyes. It's exhilarating.. like youre in a fantasyland.

When i walked through the park, it looked as if nature was hosting me in its home with a really warm welcome. It felt like everything around me was moving at its own pace towards me but disregarding me.. as if we all have our own energy but living in harmony. We went to find a bathroom and someone told us that there's a blue teahouse around the corner. We went not really understanding what a blue teahouse was supposd to look like... hoping for something out of alice and wonderland but when we got there... it was EXACTLY what a blue teahouse is supposed to look like.



The Blue Teahouse

The bathroom was quite an adventure every time we went in. Because its such small quarters it felt as if the bathroom was closing in on me. But I didn't mind it. Regardless, it was strange how ALL of us had weird experiences in the bathroom. James felt like he was slowly expanding and his legs were lifting higher or something. Jessica just tripped out and was confused on why there was so much toilet paper everywhere.

Then I took them to my tree! It was the perfect moment leading up to it. As we were walking you can see it slowly appear as you walked closer. I could actually see the glow behind it like it was waiting for me. Once we got there, it was like.. oh man.. what do we do now?! it was like holy ground haha.. i climbed it for a little bit then we sat by the pond. for like 3 hours. just sitting, chatting, and taking it all in.



James in the tree

It was as if we were all in our own worlds but sharing our worlds. It was the most amazing, comforting experiences i've had in my life. I felt the most content and comfortable with the world and myself. Everything made sense to me... though nothing did at all. I remember telling myself that "this is this happiest moment of my life."
Ideas to remember when thinking back:
- who's responsible?
- humping dog
- who's leading this trip?
- throw the rest of the shrooms away
- the birds turning into leaves
- nothing makes sense
- everything makes sense
- "warm." text to Owen
- Fountain made from water

It was funny yet a lil saddening taking pics and videos knowing that it's not gona look the same in the morning. I have quite a few pictures of absolutely nothing. After, we met up with Owen and Jenna who also shroomed and the moment Owen saw me, he tackled me to the ground! I was SO happy to see him and surprisingly, the tackle didn't hurt me at all! It was as if i was invincible. ha.




I won't explain EVERYTHING that happened cuz thoughts and feelings ran through me at 372873 mph. But basically after seeing Owen and Jenna, we met a woman with a really trained dog, we went back to the blue teahouse and had tea and beer, cigarette adventure with the chipknip, coffeehouse and cooled down a bit, frites, bar, then home. It was quite an eventful day but maybe the best day i've had in amsterdam.

Some info on my shrooms experience if you think of trying them:

- make sure you're with people you vibe well with (not necessarily people you know that well) and in an environment with not too many people. the best would be in a park.
- make sure the people you're with aren't anal
- accept the shrooms, don't reject it. if you fight the feelings and visuals you get it'll bite you in the ass by 10. thats how people get bad trips.
- dont go in the mentality of making plans after you shroom. just let the afternoon/night go without worrying about what you have to do later.
- chew well. the shroom guy kept telling us this. basically, chew them as much as possible before swallowing or else youll get nauseous.

I'm definitely not an expert but from what I've talked to with other people and from my trip, these are the general rules for a safe and enjoyable trip.

The best part is when you come down, it's very slow so you don't get tired. It's happy. Good vibes all around. I'm so fortunate that I had a really good first experience surrounded by really cool comfortable people and in a perfect environment.

The four of us shared a sentimental moment when I asked who the top person any of us would want to shroom with.
James, who didn't talk too much through out the day plainly answered "You three."

"... and so I became a prostitute with a dog."

On Wednesday my Dutch Social Policy class met at the Prostitution Information Center. It's a center for sex workers, tourists, and locals alike that would like any information on sex work- whether it be lifestyle, looking for work, or logistical aspects of sex work like figuring out ones taxes. We met the woman who founded the center which I really admire. She is a former prostitute who encourages more people to be educated on sex workers and is a huge advocate of gaining respect for sex workers across the world. She breaks down the stereotypes of sex work and sees it as purely self-employment. The center also performs workshops as guidance to sex workers. One of the biggest things this woman did was put up a statue of a strong independent sex worker in the Red Light District which has an inscription saying "Respect Sex Workers around the World." It's the only statue in the entire world that promotes sex workers. ANYWAYS, she was telling us how she became a prostitute and basically, she was 16 and very impulsive. She saw an ad for a German Shepherd and wanted it so bad. Her friend told her about a small brothel where she used to work so she decided to try it. She made enough for the dog on her first night and as she put it, "and so I became a prostitute with a dog!"

That night was Italian potluck night! We had tons of food, people made calzone, pasta, salad, appetizers, bruschetta, wine, and my course were brownies. So I'm mixing stuff in the brownies and I read on the box, a liter of water. I'm like sweet! I know what a liter looks like after being at oktoberfest so i put a liter in. It looks really runny so i looked again and it turns out i put the right amount of water... times ten! so i was like.. oh well, lets just put it in the oven and an hour later, it came out as chocolate pudding, sorta... it was the strangest texture and the most interesting flavor. Regardless, my group of friends are fatties so we almost finished the whole pan. I duno why I loved that night but it was fun. =)

The weekend was super fun. Saturday our study abroad program took an excursion to Gouda and Rotterdam. Gouda is of course where the cheese comes from and Rotterdam used to be the largest harbor in the world. We went to a cheese farm in Gouda where they they taught us how cheese was made and what goes into the entire process then my favorite part, cheese tasting! i bought a small wheel of gouda with herbs. We ate lunch at this traditional place in Gouda where they served soup and sandwiches which was pretty good. The coolest thing in Gouda was the little market they had in the middle of the square where they used to weigh the cheese. The market had food, clothing, and more! Typical market but.. I love typical markets. After Gouda we head to Rotterdam on bus and get on this Spido boat which takes you around the entire harbor with an automated tour. Really chill, not too eventful but it was relaxing. Then we go off to have drinks at Hotel new York. We got free wine, beer, coke, and orange juice but just for like an hour or so. I pumped down about 3 drinks for a good buzz on the bus. We get back to Amsterdam and we're all pretty buzzed so we continue to drink more.



CHEESE!!



Group Shot in Gouda



Rotterdam Bridge




Rotterdam cool modern Architecture

We get some cases of beer and wine and play beer pong and just drink. It continued on to be this Massive DANCE PARTY in Scott and Owen's room and everyone was having a spectacular time. It was weird cuz normally we're a very smokin and chillin group. We saw sides of people we never saw before. Our entire vibe turned 180 but it was still so awesome. That night was probably one of my most favorite nights in Amsterdam so far.

Oktoberfest and stuff.

Welcome to Oktoberfest

So Rich comes back to Amsterdam on Tuesday after spending 5 hours in Oktoberfest and maybe after 1 hour of telling me how glorious it is, I plan my entire trip in 2 hours to go to Munich that weekend. and oh... it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. The spontaneity itself just made that trip 100 times more exciting. plus.. i must admit, i enjoy planning things a little more than the normal person so just planning the whole thing got me super happy and excited.

Let's back up a little bit. So Rich gets here on Tuesday to spend one last day with me in Amsterdam before he goes off to Dusseldorf to take his plane to LA. The day in itself was awesome- we smoked a bit, ate some Wok to Walk (best munchie food in amsterdam) and passed out for the entire day. It was relaxing, happy and simple. I couldn't have asked for a better last day to spend with him.

Wednesday night I go to Alto this jazz club in Leidseplein that everyone keeps telling me about. So the owner of this place is a big sax player in Amsterdam and plays every Wednesday night with his band. His daughter tours with Prince as a part of his band so I was like ya, this guy must be pretty good. I went with a couple of friends around 9:30 and we stay straight til 1:30 it was that good. They played four sets with a pianist, bass player, drummer, and 2 saxophonists. I won't lie its pretty sweet. One of the highlights was one of the saxophonists smokes his cigarettes throughout the sets. not a big deal.. BUT while he plays, he attaches his cig to a small crevice in his sax. quite a badass. not to mention his get up- straight out of the 80s.

It's blurry, but the cig is there!

Okay okay, unto Oktoberfest. I meet up with Jessica, Rich's sister aka Rich with long hair in Munich and my friend Eric meets us up in the morning. We stayed at this place called The Tent Munich. It's exactly what it sounds like- a giant tent with 100 beds in it. no false advertising there whatsoever.

The Tent Munich

If all the beds are full, you can bring your own tent and set it up on their campgrounds which is pretty awesome. Probably one of the best experiences. Every night they build a bonfire, they sell beer and bratwurst, and everyone who lives there has a grand old time. I got to meet tons of people from different places. Number one moment at The Tent, I became a pro at the harmonica. There was this guy from Vancouver who brought his guitar and two harmonicas. Of course I had to ask him if I could play it and he was more than willing to lend it to me. Probably the EASIEST instrument to play. We jammed all night around the bonfire. I must admit, I had a bit of an attachment to it.

So first day in Oktoberfest. Saturdays are definitley NOT the best days to go to Oktoberfest. It's packed and its super hard to get into the big tents. But thats not to say that you won't get fcked up. So we spent most of the days in the Beer Gardens. We started in the Hofbrau beer garden at around 11:30 am where we met 100s of Italians. Apparently the second weekend of Oktoberfest is when ALL the Italians go cuz they have a long holiday. They have so many nationalistic songs... we came to the realization that Americans got nothing. So of course we joined the Italians in their songs! One of our new Italian friends slammed his stein against his friends' so hard that it broke and cut himself. The best part was when the security guard came with a huge long whistle sound and pulled out a RED CARD! He didn't even say anything... just pointed at the Red card. I felt like i was in 3rd grade when you had to change colors when you did something bad. One of the funniest moments to start our day.

Jessica, Eric, me, and the Italian that got the Red Card.

After maybe 2 liters at that beer garden, we move on to see if we can get into a tent.. which is impossible so we get to the next beer garden at the Augustijn tent. There we meet some Austrians that kept referring to Jessica and me as "LA Girls" By then I'm pretty drunk but being raised by two brothers, cannot refuse beer at Oktoberfest so I keep going. I'm getting to the end of the liter, finish it, celebrate! then grab the empty liter back and puke straight into it in front of all my new Austrian friends. Key moment that had to happen in Oktoberfest.

At least I made sure it stayed in the stein. Eric takes me to this grassy hill where all the drunkos pass out at aka Heaven. It felt mighty good to take a short nap and then we were off again. We try to get into Hippodrom tent which is supposed to be the best but of course cannot so go back to the Tent to call it a night.

The next day, Sunday, God's day, we head out to Oktoberfest super early. We get there by 9 to make sure we get a spot in a Tent. We're into the Hofbrau tent by about 9:30, settle ourselves in, and start drinking. What's unique about the Hofbrau tent is what is called the Pig Pen. This is the standing room area in the middle of the tent where basically, if you walk in, they will demand you to take your underwear/bras off. Some guys will actually snap your bras off. They will then proceed to toss it unto the flying pig statue hanging from the top of the tent.

Hofbrau tent

Flying Pig

Leiderhosen!

Jessica and I didn't find that too appealing so we didn't go in it. We just sat at a table with some cool Australian and Dutch guys which was extremely enjoyable. We were introduced to Snuf which is tobacco that you snort. That shit really wakes you up.

Snuf face

We also ate radishes whcih they sell randomly everywhere in teh tent. We also ate a giant pork knuckle which was damn good.

Pork Knuckle

Saw an old German woman chug a liter of beer. Saw a skinny guy chug THREE liters of beer. The Tent went NUTS for them.

My Hero.

All in all, a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and especially end our experience in Oktoberfest- good food, good beer, good entertainment, good company.

He had the same word tattoed as mine!

Goodbye Oktoberfest! til we meet again.

Eric and I leave early around 3 to attempt our train back to Amsterdam at 3:56. We totally miss it by 4 minutes. saddest moment ever... but fortunately we took the night train and passed out on that. Now I'm back in Amsterdam, and happy to say so. Made many memories at Oktoberfest which definitely made my top 5 moments in Europe so far but home is home. =) Plus, I've been quite a cook since I've been here. Mommy would be proud.

Well balanced meals.

Fight or Flight in Venice.

Venice from top.

Now onto the weekend with Rich in Venice. I felt like such a pro getting through the journey alone to Venice and figuring out how to get to the train station from the airport and all those logistics. It's nice feeling confident in a new place and people in the airport seemed to notice cuz they kept asking me what to do since the Marco Polo airport is across the water from Venice... too bad my response was always.. ''um... ya, im just gona buy a bus ticket i guess.. you should ask her'' as I pointed to some lady at a desk.. it seems like as long as you look confident in what you're doing and where you're going, you don't stand out oto much and especially, no one tries to fucks with you. good rule of thumb in traveling if i've learned anything.

Venice was great. If you ever go to Venice, you must stay at the hostel A Venice Fish. It''s located in this little island almost close to everything- train station, bus station, rialto, san marco. It has a private bridge and it's just a beautiful building. It used to be an old Venetian house. I would wake up and walk around the balcony and tourists would always be taking pictures of it. That was kinda weird but pretty sweet. BUT the BEST thing about the hostel is the owner cooks up FREE dinner every night for the hostel so everyone just comes together at night over drinks and food and gets to know each other. It's like a family around the big table every night PLUS you save like 20 euro each night from dinner.

Besides the hostel, Venice was pretty sweet. There's not much to do there but that's the strength of its charm. You can get lost in the city and just be overwhelmed with the visual stimulation. Every corner there's a surprise- whether it be a beautiful sunset or a small unknown canal with houses with architecture you've never seen before. It's not a normal European city where you have to hit all 20 sites in one day but its a city you can stroll around in with life passing by really slow.

Rich and I had two amazing meals. Well mostly Rich had two amazing meals.. I was just there to watch him enjoy them while I ate my mediocre but still good enough food. His infamous spaghetti with clams and spaghetti with langostino sauce. It was the meals he had always been searching for in Italy and he finally found satisfaction.

Very satisfied customer.

We also went on a gondola ride. We agreed that the most we would spend was 80 euro on a gondola. Normal is 100-150. The first guy we talked to wouldnt go lower than 100 so we were like nah... stick to the plan. The next guy we passed, I was SO ready to haggle and he goes "80 euro"... i think i was too in shock that my haggling instinct left me immediately. and he totally knew it. But in hindsight i think i coulda haggled it down to at least 60... gotta work on keeping my game face on. Nevertheless it was great. Our gondola guy was cool, he showed us Marco Polo's house and Casanova's house. Rich and I couldn't hold back our immature nature to scream out "marco" "POLO!" We kissed under the Rialto bridge, and took a tour of the little canals which we couldn't ask for more on our first gondola ride. Interestingly enough, tourists kept taking pictures of us on the gondola.. We're FAMOUS!

Gondola ride with Gondola man.

We went to the glass blowing city of Murano. The main thing to see here is the glass blowing show. Everyone says its a great experience. Unfortunately, they don't show it on the weekends so we weren't able to hit it up but if you ever go, let me know how much I missed out on.

San Marco square was quite the experience. If you know me, you know I have this weird phobia of birds... well not birds per se but when birds flutter uncontrollably. It's probably the scariest thing in my life. San Marco square is where ALL the pigeons in the entire universe come to gather to attack humans. I've never had so much fear in my life but at the same time I've never been so exhilarated in my life. It was such a weird anxiety... cuz I'd run away but always come back for more... like getting back in the ring after being knocked out... many times.. well regardless, Rich bought a bag of birdfeed and went all out with the arms stretched out and pigeons covering him and fluttering all over the place. GROSS.... I tried to face my fears... it took me awhile but once I got enough courage I put the feed in one hand... held it out...

Bird fluttered straight at me, I dropped the feed and fled...
it only took one.
you won this one bird. til next time.

Pigeon killing man in gray.

Not a happy camper but happy enough. =)

In Between Weekend Getaways

A week has passed by and once again, it's been extremely eventful and sometimes i wonder when I'll stop being redundant but thoroughly enjoying the ride until then.

Coming back from Paris with Rich was a bit tough getting back into the swing of 9 am classes and running the normal errands of a typical student. ESPECIALLY knowing that I'll be going to venice in 4 days, i was quite antsy. Nevertheless it was good times all around. Tuesday night we went out to a bar that supposedly had an open mic where my friend Mike wanted to read at but when we got there it was completely full cuz apparantly some really famous dutch writer was there reading as well. It was too packed, Mike didn't get to read so we left. BUT he did give us a private reading over some greens so that was an experience that satisfied us all that night.

Wednesday was my sexuality class which is always super interesting. We keep having these debates of nature vs. nurture and how society puts everyone into categories but on the other end, could we really still function as a society without categories? Isn't it what defines people? Or do people really have to be defined? We also talk about GLBT groups focus on opening society's minds up to an uncategorical world but they still have to unite and put themselves in a category themselves. So, yes we might not get any direct answers but regardless, it's personally been a great class cuz it's really opening me up to trying to break barriers that society puts on me and it's been a struggle. If you have any input on this debate, please chime in!

Wednesday was also my friend Jon's bday so he had a little barbeque and borrel thing at my dorm. I got to meet my International Student Network group for hte first time since I've kinda been bailing on the other events. It was really nice meeting people from different countries and observing the communication and conversation between us which is a subject we are studying in my Intercultural Communication class.

Thursday I slept in til 2! It was beautiful. I didn't realize how much these 9 am classes are killing me every day but it felt freeing to just be a fatass in bed for a day. I spent the day cooking, reading, and writing my papers that were do after the weekend. For my Dutch Social Policy class I had to write a 5 page paper on anything about drugs. Yes, sounds easy, but what's even easier is finding an old Writing 340 paper that I wrote on legalizing drugs last year. Sweet.

When Outside the Classroom Comes In

Today we had a guest speaker in my Contemporary Dutch Social Policy class. Her name is Nancy and she told us her story. She is an ex-drug addict and prostitute. Her story begins at a young age when her dad would beat her and her sisters so they ran away at a young age. She shoots up for the first time at the age of 13 from the influence of her 20 year old boyfriend not knowing its addictive nature. She eventually finds herself on the streets where men would try to abuse her and even threaten her life while she sold her body to support her habit. For more than 30 years she mixed heroin and crack and was fully addicted. She had a child at 30 years old who is in a foster care home. She ended with hope as she received help and is now clean for 4 years and sees her son every month for four days.

Yes there's a lot more pain, heartache and trials that Nancy experienced that my short summary could never give justice to but you can try to imagine what kind of life Nancy lived and how strong of a woman she is now. What I liked about Nancy was how she never had to cover up anything or pound a specific message into your head. She told her story how it was and how she lived it- all real and true, the good and the bad and had you decide what message you want from it.

For example, our teacher asked her what it felt like to get high off heroin and crack and she straight up said "honestly, you know how it feels like to get off? its like that, times 1000..." It's refreshing to hear that side to know that real people have these habits with real feelings and not just junkies you disregard in society. That type of feeling could seem tempting and irresistible for any average person. I appreciated that she included the good and the bad so that you get a more realistic understanding of what an addiction is and the real human feelings that are provoked by an addiction.

I also admired her relationship with her son. She says that it was better to be a good mom from a distance than a bad mom that can't even take care of herself, let alone a child. She said that if her son was ever curious about drugs, she would tell him everything and anything he wanted to know open and honestly. She wouldn't give him false information or scare him away from drugs by closing him off but will immerse him with honest information taken from experience because she knows how it is to go down the wrong way.

I think that's extremely admirable because from comparing the social policies of the Netherlands and America, I've learned that ignorance is not bliss because curiosity can never be cured by turning a blind eye.

Parisians, Juice Box Wine, my Buddy and me

Pictures are fixed!

Buddy and me with our Juice Boxes under the Eiffel

This week was way too eventful to even put into words. Rich came to visit! My first visit from anyone from home and it's my buddy... what more can I ask for?

The buddy adventures started with him in Amsterdam for 2 days. I wanted to take him EVERYWHERE. It's an exhilarating experience having a loved one visit you in your new home. I just wanted him to see everything I love about the city and share with him all my experiences. Though he was a bit tired from London, he was quite the trooper.

We started off with a nap.. just to rejuvenate after his sleepless nights and the plane ride. I took him to the wonderful Pancake Bakery! Ate some bomb ass pancakes then went to the Anne Frank House down the street from me. Though it's not as small as you think it is, it's makes just as big of an impact as you would expect. Whether you've read the Diary or not, I guarantee you a surreal and unforgettable experience. I have much respect for Otto Frank... he's an incredible man that truly understands love for family and complete trust in friends.

After, I toured him around Dam Square, the Red Light District, the Sex Museum and we had our first Frites in Amsterdam! mmmm... nostalgic of Pomme Frites in New York. If you ever get Frites here, get the Joppiesauce. Amanda says its like "spread" from In-n-Out but not. and Rich says its kinda like curry. If that doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what will.
Finally, we took a trip to Abraxas. Met up with Rich's co-worker Taj and his sisters and also met up with the Amsterdam crew. Had a good time, music was bumpin as usual. Good people, good times.

The next day while I was in class, Rich rented a bike and went to check out the Van Gogh Museum. Then we met up and biked to Vondel Park. Extremely recommendable. It's like the central park of Amsterdam. The park is cool... but the best part of it is my tree. This tree has become my favorite place in all of Amsterdam. It's the most climbable most child friendly tree anyone can ever imagine. It's like story book tree- kids were even sliding down it. Once Rich gets his pictures, I'll post it up. Love at first sight.

Bestreever!!!

Erichtree

We went to dinner at a traditional Dutch restaurant 1870 and from there, went back to Abraxas to get Rich a "spaced up" milkshake. They're milkshakes are amazing by itself (ask Amanda) but for an extra 2,50 you can space it up! We also went cuz I wanted Rich to meet my friends here... it was like a "getting good people to meet other good people" type thing.

In the morning it was off to PARIS!

Because I keep blabbing, I'm gona continue with cliffsnotes style:

Thursday:
- arrived at our cheap hotel Au Nouvel Lyon Hotel which was pretty sweet- we got our own room and bathroom!
- Rich had his first look at the Eiffel Tower, we walked around Champ de Mars
- had an amazing dinner close by which included rabbit legs, pasta, "rocket salad," steak, wine, berries and cream, and coffee.

Friday:
- went to the Louvre where we played "guess what bible story this painting is of" and "try to imitate the statue picture game"

Rich won:

Us with Mona

- we bumped into Amanda, Lena and Riley at the Louvre who went to Paris the same weekend!
- walked around the Louvre and L'Opera area
- went to Champ Elysee and checked out the Arc de Triomph which apparantly looked so high that Rich could "feel it in his nuts", went to the top, had an awesome view
- continuted on to the market Monoprix to get some meats, cheeses, baguettes, wine, and desserts
- had a little picnic at Champ de Mars under the Eiffel Tower, quite romantic I must say
- the best part about our picnic, besides being there with my buddy, was FRENCH RABBIT wine juice boxes!!! They were fantastic and gave us great buzzes. They need to import that stuff into America.

Saturday:
- went to Notre Dame where we had the opportunity to have Confession
- the priest was super cool:
I walk in ready to make my confessions and he goes "hey! are you filipino?" i go, "ya, filipino chinese" and he's like "I love filipinos, they're so joyful!" i knew this was a good man. By the end, we exchanged emails and he really wants me to visit him in Africa someday. He was one of the coolest priests I've met so if you ever go to Notre Dame, ask for the priest Fr. Hyacinth Nassi. He'll definitely give you some good vibes and great wisdom.
- had croques, onion soup, and chocolat chauds at Cafe Panis recommended by a guy who works for this really cool used bookstore: Shakespeare and Company
- ventured on to the Picasso museum area but on the way we hit the Techno Parade that happens to be going on! that was freakin intense... thousands of kids just going nuts behind crazy floats with djs spinning on each one blasting out techno. Pretty awesome experience.
- walked around the Picasso museum area which had eccentric shops and was just really visually stimulating
- went to Montmarte where we saw the Sacre Coeur basilica (featured in Amelie)
- sat at the steps with maybe 100 or so people where two guys were playing Simon and Garfunkle on their guitars... one of my biggest highlights on this trip. Everyone sang along while we all experienced the most beautiful view of Paris.



- went to the Moulin Rouge just to check it out
- went to the Latin Quarter where we ate at Quick (which is like a Euro McDonalds)
- explored some bars but ended up back around Notre Dame where we relaxed at this one bar, where we had some beers and some great conversation. =)

Sunday:
- went back to Notre Dame for mass
- the organist went crazy at the end and the choir kids looked possessed but it was a beautiful mass regardless
- i love how Notre Dame still functions as a Church and is not just a tourist attraction
- had some lunch and a crepe around ND and then we went to the train station where we parted ways. him to Rome, me back to Amsterdam.

So that was our weekend in a nutshell. Paris is beautiful. Though Amanda would disagree, I think Parisians are amazingly nice people but it's worth it to check it out and decide for yourself.

The buddy adventures have only begun. Next up, Venice!

Buddy Adventures!

Potlucks and Peoples

Coolest bike I've seen in Amsterdam so far

BIG BIG SHOUTOUT to my SIS! Happy birthday! Sorry I couldn't be there for your 21st. sooo sad. but i hope you had fun, got baked, and got naked! =) I celebrated your birthday with hash brownies! full circle... since you were the first to ever give me spacecake haha... the night i had to pack for tahiti.. jerk! but i love you anyways.

SOOO since the last post, it's been pretty eventful. We had another borrel (drink) at my dorm on Thursday like a little meet n greet. Met people from my dorm. Not bad... had fun, a little high from the brownies. After that went to a hookah place called Lost in Amsterdam. Pretty chill, big couches with pillows and good vibes.

Friday was our first ever potluck! It was so much fun and quite satisfying! The menu consisted of pasta with bolognese sauce and mango, rotisserie chicken, salad, and for dessert: apples and nutella!!! mmmm... quite a balanced meal. I've been loving the whole cooking thing since I've been here. It makes me feel like I'm really living here. After, a shitload of people randomly came up to Owen and Scotts which was where the potluck was and we all had a good time over music, drinks, and hash. Such a good time taht we traveled over to the playground next to Plantage and played.

Saturday was do nothing day. After I did nothing, Amanda, Owen, and I and a bunch of people from amanda's dorm went to a drum and bass party in Rembrandtplein at Escape Studio. Intense.. all i have to say was "my heart was tired after that."

Sunday was run errands day with Amanda. Went to church, Dutch of course, and at night went ot a gay club called Trut. If you want a great time at a gay club, go here. It's only open on Sunday nights and has been going for 20 years now. Met a gorgeous man with a fro name Jean Paul from Curacao and a couple of his friends and hopefully we will get to party together cuz they were straight up good vibes.

Other than that, today I had class and came home and made some dinner. I think I cooked lettuce. I wasn't sure what it was when I bought it but when I ate it, I really think i was lettuce.

Rich is coming tomorrow! Yippee! Can't wait to show him around this place.

Broodjes, Borrels, and aBraxas.

My buds Scott (left) and Owen (right). They saved me with
neosporin and a tuna sandwich when I fell. =)

So, I attempted to do a full picture update on all the highlights that I listed but unfortunately blogger isn't letting me for some reason. I think you can only upload one at a time. bleh. It definitely could be my fault because I'm an idiot when it comes to computers but lets just put the blame on the inanimate object for now. Regardless, I updated my pics on facebook so you can see all the highlights on there:

Amsterdam pictures so far

Other than trying to comprehend technology, it's been a pretty eventful week so far. I started class. Dutch classes are a lot chiller than they are in the states. All we have is a paper and maybe a test at the end of the semester. So your grade is based solely on that, participation and attendance. Seems chill but everything piles up in the end so it can be pretty intense.

Besides class, I've been settling in still. You know, normal errands- laundry, grocery shopping, school supply shopping. It feels like it takes so long to do one errand cuz you have to bike to that destination. I duno, it seems like you can't do too much in one day. Then again, I kinda like it. It gives me really relaxing days and I don't feel like I'm in a rush ever. It's a nice feeling.

On Monday night, my friends and I went to a bar by my place. I duno what it's called but its 181 Prinsengracht in case any of you come to Amsterdam and want a cool bar to go to. A couple of my friends Owen and Natalie wanted to check out the student orgs at the university and we found out that the art student org meets every monday for drinks at this bar. So we thought we'd crash. It ended up being so much fun. I got to meet Dutch students, talk about photography, and they serve 5 beers for 5 euros! (which is a great deal). I think I want to join the photo club. They were all so welcoming so I think it would be a great opportunity to shoot around Amsterdam.

Tuesday was a very great day. I spent the day mostly with buddies Owen and Scott. Had class til 1, Owen and Scott hosted lunch for us for 2 euro haha... took a nap at their place and we rode off to run some errands. Then we found this AWESOME cheap sandwich place called broodje bert. Broodje means sandwich. Definitely recommendable if you're on a budget. That was a delightful dinner. After dinner, we continued on to Abraxas.

Abraxas is a coffeeshop that was highly recommended by one of Owen's friends, and rightly so. It's probably one of the best environments a coffeeshop can have. The whole look of the place was just so welcoming and somewhat random and they played some amazing music. Their music consisted of some hip hop and old school r&b. Scott was SO damn funny:

- Owen and I were trying to remember who sang a certain song and Scott keeps trying to guess also... except his guesses were just way off. This is how it went:
S: Beyonce?
Me: no, older
S: Mariah Carey?
Me: nope, older
S: Brandy?
Me: older than that
S: What's older than Brandy? THE SUPREMES?!

- After our attempts of educating Scott on the Fugees, here's what he comes up with:
S: Okay, the Fugees are... Lauren Hill....
.... Biggie?

Great times at Abraxas. Fully recommendable if you want a coffeeshop with a nice vibe.

Yesterday was run errands at home day. Like I said, I did laundry, cooked, cleaned out my email, cleaned my room, napped. At night we had an International Student Borrel. Borrel means "drink." I swear there are borrels planned every night. So free beer and food again and this was probably one of the funnest nights. After the Borrel, about 20 of us ended up in Scott and Owen's dorm playing Big Booty and Telephone. I have no idea how we got to that point but we loved being there.

People start talking about going to a sex show so we head off on our bikes to the Red Light District. They're all about 25 to 45 euro. We tried to bargain them down to 2 euro but it didn't work at all. lol... so we ended up seeing a peek show for 2 euro. Totally not worth it. You go into this small little booth and watch someone or a couple do their thang for 2 minutes. Quite the tease. I was in the booth with my friend Claire. We didn't find it too fascinating but I think others got a better show than we did. Next time, we're gona pay good money for a good show.

OH YA, i forgot we met some sneakerhead today. We were in a sneaker store and this guy was wearing a kid robot shirt so I asked him about it. Basically the sneakerhead community is really tiny here but its one of those "everyone knows everyone" type community. Anyways, while he was talking he was getting kinda upset over people working for nike or something... not sure but regardless, he's supposed to let amanda and i know about the hip hop sneaker scene here. should be cool.

Adventures in Amsterdam. First post!

Erika Eats it on her Bike.

Erika: So, here goes nothing. Amanda and I are starting this blog in an attempt to record the happenings as we venture through Amsterdam and throughout Europe for the next 4 months!

I 've been in Europe now for about two weeks now. My strong and healthy bros came to travel around with me to Prague and Budapest for a week and a half or so. The experience was pretty amazing. It was a comfort to have a piece of home with me while I get acclimated to this new place. They helped me get settled in to Amsterdam and left last Thursday.

Because it's been probably the craziest week I've ever had due to orientation and getting situated, I'll make it up by giving a concise cliffs notes version. Apparently, in Amsterdam, orientation means get all the international students in a room and get them all drunk because that's basically what happened every night from Wednesday to Saturday. They filled us up on free Heineken at random events like a karaoke night or at a club. Nonetheless, it was a glorious orientation and a great way to break the ice. something America should think about. no more of this "go around the circle and tell me something interesting."

So, other highlights from that week include:
- going to the windmills in the rural area, saw how clogs were made, went to an amazing cheese factory with the bros
- sitting by the canal with new friends eating cheap thai food
- walking all over Amsterdam
- finally getting a bike
- went to an art show opening where the artist built a giant ant hill out of cardboard which you were able to climb through
- attended the Amsterdam jazz festival which was amazing
- Amanda learning how to ride a bike!
- eating at the Pancake Bakery
- cooking my first meal with Amanda
- going to an open air market to shop for meat, cheese, and fruits
- getting buzzed on the canal cruise
- getting pretty stoned and imagining an entire world underneath the canal, with a talking swan
- trying out new gange
- first day of school was today. teachers talk really slow here but the content seems interesting. amanda and i have all our classes together! yay 4 day weekends. =)

AND finally, to describe the picture of the day, I fell for the first time on my bike today and totally ate it. Now my bike makes strange noises, the handlebars are off centered and my knee is a bit disabled. BUT, i guess its just a little welcome present from Amsterdam.

Thanks Amsterdam. Glad to be here.