Day 7

Hello hello!

Today was a perfect lazy Sunday in Amsterdam, filled with relaxing in cafe's and walking around magnificent museums. A few of us slept in late, then enjoyed pancakes and "hamburgers" (ie nothing like the American hamburgers) before trekking in the rain via bicycle to the Stedlijk Museum of Modern Art and the Van Gogh Museum down in the Museumplein. The Stedlijk had just re-opened after being under renovation since 2008 so it was free. It was full of amazing pieces of artwork, from paintings to photographs to films to anything in between! I could only take photos of a few, but I will go into detail about a few of them. There was one with bird sounds. Well, not bird sounds but random people calling out the names of artists in a bird-call like nature. I thought they were saying BaKAW, so it made me a wee bit homesick. There was another film that showed children looking at a certain famous painting (sadly I cannot remember which one.) but the film only showed the children first seeing it and then responding to questions about it, and it did not even show the painting. It was different but quite fascinating. Another one was a room full of politically-charged quotes by famous people (George Orwell for example). I put up lots of pictures of it. I feel that I can't give enough credit to it by describing it myself. One that was particularly chilling was the newspaper. It was the New York Times edition on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, before the news of the Twin Towers being struck had been reported. It was a great day there. We then trekked down the street to the Van Gogh Museum, which was absolutely amazing. We weren't allowed to take photos, but it was a great way to spend a Sunday, looking at Van Gogh's incredible artwork throughout his brief life and years as an artist.
Today was my last day of "freedom" before more orientation stuff (this time with CIEE) and then classes, which start on September 6. I am enjoying the free time but I look forward to getting onto a good schedule. Tonight some of us girls are going to get sushi down in Dam Square. I have been craving it! I hope everyone back in the States is having a fantastic weekend. I'm sorry I don't have more interesting things to write about today.

I miss: In N Out burgers.
I love: Mr. Van Gogh.