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