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.