Days 18-21

This weekend has been so peaceful and relaxing, and honestly it has all run into one big blur. I am trying to think about what exactly I did on each day and it is difficult to remember! I guess that's why I need to write in this blog more often.
On Thursday Liz and I went on an epic quest to Spui to find books for our Color and Culture class, only to discover that our professor, a lovable space-case, hadn't ordered the books yet that we have a reading due on Wednesday! So, that was stellar. Luckily we managed to find the colored pencils we need for the class (yes, this class requires us to color.)
*Fun side note: My Color and Culture professor was excited when she heard my last name. Apparently it means "color" in German. Kind of cool, huh?
But, it was crappy weather outside, so a few of us decided to relax and watch Austin Powers movies. A great way to spend a rainy afternoon.
Friday was spent at our favorite hang-out, the café down the street. A bunch of us were sitting outside drinking tea and doing our homework. It would appear to be a normal afternoon until a mini parade came storming down the street. There were so many little Dutch children! Some in costumes, others riding unicycles, and even more giving out bags of potatoes to the patrons at the café. There was even a horse-drawn carriage and a Chinese dragon! I don't have the slightest clue was the parade was about, but it was fun nonetheless.The marching band.

Chinese Dragon. Notice that one of the men who is the legs of the dragon had to abandon his dragon-like duties to tend to a little child. so cute.
girls on unicycles handing out bags of potatoes.to top it all off, the horse-drawn wagon chock-full of shnoos.

The rest of Friday, after the work was done, was spent wandering around our neighborhood and admiring the beauty of the canals.




Me, Liz and Oritt attempting to take a photo with the canal in the background.
Fail.


beautiful view of one of the many canals.


Funny cat sitting on the windowsill.


Someone had a good night on the canal last night.


Bliss.

It has been a great four days, going out at night- exploring fun places at night, such as Rembrandtplein and Prinsengracht, and hanging out with cool people. I also met a random English man named....Tex. I had to ask him to repeat his name about fifty times. In my 21 years alive on this big ol' planet we call Earth, I have never a. heard of anyone actually named Tex (only in the movies, but that doesn't really count), and b. never heard of an ENGLISH man actually being named Tex. Another strange but wonderful encounter in A-Dam.

I wish I had more riveting things to write about, but hopefully more exciting adventures are to come in the near future. Tonight is my last night of the weekend before I have classes this week. One exciting thing: I start my Dutch language class tomorrow. I am quite excited yet also a bit nervous. Luckily everyone in the class is a non-native Dutch speaker, so it will be a nice way to learn the language. I've heard that the classes at the INTT (Instituut voor Nederlands als Tweede Taal, aka the Institute for Dutch as a Second Language) can be quite intense and with lots of work, so I'm hoping that that rumor is false.

I have been so lucky to talk to so many people from home over the last week or so. It has been so nice to hear from everyone back in Baltimore and Los Angeles, and everywhere else of course. It has also made me a wee bit homesick for the people. That combined with constantly hearing American music have made me quite nostalgic. For example, while some of us were watching Arrested Development one night, they played the song "The Final Countdown". It made me miss New Play Festival and everyone in it! There are so many more instances of songs making me homesick, but it would take way too long to write every single one down.

Doi!
[bye! (pronounced Doo-EE)]