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."