made it to croatia

I'll post again once we do some things here.  as of now, we are still going to morocco.  we do have tickets back to amsterdam, however, incase it is deemed unsafe.

love,
kathleen

almost spring?

in honor of spring break (and because we don't have dutch visas) on saturday morning we'll be leaving on a vacation of sorts.  a vacation that requires 2 weeks of readings, lectures, museum visits, and a 6 hour BBC special to prepare for.  we'll be headed first to croatia for a week, then to morocco.  we are all closely following the unrest in the northern africa, and if it is deemed unsafe for us to travel to morocco, other plans will be made.  i'll be sure to keep you (mom and dad) updated on my whereabouts and any changes.

on a more positive note, when we return to amsterdam, it should be spring!  signs of spring are all ready here, like thousands of british tourist and the first flowers popping up!

flowers next to the fence where i park my bike.

it would not be evident, however, from the fact that it is not even 6:30 and the sun is setting or from my outfit today.  oh well.

bundled up for the cold.

sun setting behind my apartment.

since my host is in south africa visiting her daughter, i've been cooking my own meals.  today i went to the grocery store to stock up for the rest of the week.  my basic dutch was a bit helpful, as i can ask what something costs (wat kost dat?) and say that i don't need a bag (nee tas, alstublieft).  it would be helpful, however, to be able to understand what kind of cheese i'm buying (though old and young seem to be the only options) or which sign above the produce correlates to which vegetable.

grocery shopping is easiest if you're looking for the dutch food of choice.  no, it's not herring or goat cheese or stroop waffles.  give up?  it's sprinkles!  yes, sprinkles, a dutch favorite.  sprinkles can be found on just about ever dutch breakfast table (unless you live in an all organic household such as this one).  while staying in hostels we had sprinkles 3 meals a day.  on toast and jam for breakfast, on your yogurt at lunch, and on your custard for dessert.  what could be better than sprinkles.  (the man buying sprinkles looked at me quite strangely for taking this picture.)

sprinkle section of the grocery store

(yes, those are all different kinds of sprinkles!)

hope all is well back in the US and that the snow starts to melt in New England.  i'll try to post again before i leave and will be in touch from croatia and morocco!

lots of love,

kathleen

 

finally settled in

I haven't been particularly good at blogging, so I'm going to try to start now.

I'm finally settled in in Amsterdam.  It took me a while to get used to my living conditions because my host and I don't really get along.  She has very strange (and often offensive) opinions and we don't see eye-to-eye on almost anything.  We've begun to discuss more neutral topics and have started to get along a little better.  I have a bit of a break though, because she is currently visiting her daughter in South Africa, so I have the apartment to myself.  She is a fabulous cook—so I'll miss that—but think it's the best that we have some time apart.  Her apartment is lovely.  I have a nice room and a wonderful view.  When I get back from Croatia and Morocco, I'm sure it will be nice to see a familiar face, but for now I'm okay with the separation.

 view from my window

The program I'm involved in is interesting.  My theory course is challenging, my dutch teacher is really nice (though my dutch is awful!) and we've had some interesting lectures.  There are only 10 other students in the program (down from 25 last semester) so we spend a lot of time together.  Luckily we all get along well.

We have a fair amount of free time where we can go to cafes, wander around the outdoor markets, and go to museums.  There are some gezellig (very cozy) places we've found where you can "have a cup of tea and stay for hours," as our leader Kevin always says.  The weather has been pretty chilly (40's and 50's) and so windy and cloudy.  Spring is supposed to be coming soon, and I'm ready for some warmer weather.

cute (and quirky) cafe on the zeedijk 

dog art at a canal house museum. 

I've also finally adjusted to riding my bike around in this city.  The roads along the canals are tiny and I often find myself riding 3 inches away from a truck or cement mixer or van.  Bikes have the right of way, and the dutch cyclist bike fast and very aggressively.  On foot you have to be very careful, but when I'm trying to navigate between the tram, two way traffic, bikes, pedestirans, tourists and motorcyles it can be quite overwhelming.  Our bikes have no gears and backpedal breaks, which is also interesting to adjust to, especially when you need to stop fast.  Yesterday, riding to a museum a bike passed me going the other direction with a basket on the front with two dogs, barking at all of the oncoming bikers. It's not uncommon for dogs to ride in baskets, and some bikes have attachments to carry children, ladders, furniture, and other large things.  I have enough trouble riding my bike down tiny cobblestone streets, I cannot imagine trying to do it while holding a shelving unit.

My group is currently preparing to depart to Croatia in a week, which should be interesting (and warmer!)  I'm off to watch a 6 hour BBC film about the fall of Yugoslavia, but will try to post here more often!

Liefs en groet,

kathleen

First try at blogging

trying to start blogging, but whenever i sit to write i don’t know what to say.  here’s an attempt from last night:

today was our first true day in amsterdam.  though we’ve been here since friday, today was the first time we were truly on our own to learn and explore.  this morning we left the hostel and went to the SIT center.  we were given 10 euro and 4 or 5 hours for a scavenger hunt around the city.  

we all had to do generic things, find the school where we will take dutch class and find a gezellig (cozy) cafe for lunch.  in addition, each of us had instructions that would take us to various parts of the city.  i went to the market at Albert Cuystraat, a bookstore on Paleisstraat, and a chinese grocery store on the zeedijk.  

I spent most of my day feeling very lost and wandering about, asking people where i was in relation to where i wanted to go.  i wandered in the red light district for about a half an hour, not sure how to find my way back after visiting the zeedijk (which is like china town).  I stumbled upon an anti-china protest, a chinese new year celebration, and—after 3 and a half hours of wandering in the city—a gezelig cafe for a cappuccino and a sandwich.  

though lost and confused, i found my way back to SIT at 5.  amsterdam is a beautiful city.