First weekend off

Every week we are getting Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off to explore the city (and work on our research papers).  On Saturday I slept in then decided to go wander around the city alone.  I was in need of a little "me" time. 


I wandered past the Heineken brewery.  There you can take what they call the Heineken Experience.  I think that means they give you free beer.  But I'll have to save that for another day.

I went to a two flea markets that they have every day (except Sunday).  The first was a bunch of stores selling everything on sale.  The second was like a huge garage sale.  Both were pretty cool but the best part was the infomercial guys demonstrating stuff in Dutch.

I ate dinner at a little cafe by the park that played Prince and James Brown then decided to head home.  It was really nice to be by myself for awhile and see some of the city. On Sunday it was pouring so I spent all day doing homework like a good student. 




Monday I decided to go check out the zoo that is about a mile from our dorms.  I rode my bike there and I really don't know how people handle hills in Seattle cause I am worn out riding on this flat land.  At the zoo I learned that kids running around being really loud and rude is not a trait that is reserved for Americans. 

At the zoo there were tons of baby animals.  I must have gotten there at the right time of year.

This baby sea lion is named Clint.  I watched him sleep for awhile waiting for him to move so I could make sure he wasn't a little dead baby sea lion.

The gorillas are always amusing.  If only this guy had a pipe instead broccoli he could be some of my professors.

I stopped to take a picture of this silver back gorilla in this complete pimp pose.  Then I turned away to walk to the next exhibit.

Right after I turned around a piece of broccoli flew over my head and landed right in front of me.  The gorilla threw his food at me! But as a friend pointed out, at least it wasn't poop.





Dutch dinosaurs are much scarier than American ones.

They had raccoons at the zoo! I wanted to explain to everyone that these are pests, not cool creatures to look at.

I can't figure out if they put the mirror up to give the flamingos something to look at or if they are trying to trick us into thinking they actually have double the birds.

Here is a baby goat for Mike.

After the zoo I was craving a nice American burger so I found a place called Burgermeester.  Then I had to make them translate the menu for me.  I got the mini burgers, one beef, one lamb, and one free range chicken with guacamole.  They were amazing.

That night a few of us decided to go to the Anne Frank House.  The original house and the one next door have been turned into a museum.  There are no pictures allowed to preserve the material there, so I was just able to get the outside of the house.

After Anne Frank we were all feeling a bit sad and deep.  We decided that now would be a good chance to enjoy some of what Amsterdam does best.  Plus the pre-rolled joints come in these cute little tubes.  It was a nice mellow way to end the weekend.  Now back to school on Tuesday.

Van Gogh and Haarlem

 One of the things I am loving about the Netherlands is their candy.  There is a whole company that makes prince chocolate.  I will have to bring some home for my family.  And this one actually tastes good.  Much better than the salty licorice our professor made us try.

 On Thursday, June 21st we went to the Van Gogh Museum.  This museum houses the most of Van Gogh's work in the world. 

 Yep.  That's me hanging out with a crazy master.

Pictures are totally not allowed at the Van Gogh Museum, so don't tell anyone that I took this.  This has to be my favorite work of his of all time.  Van Gogh at the time was studying the proper way to learn how to paint.  But he was really bored and just wanted to do it his way.  So he made this painting to make fun of the tradition method of painting skeletons.  I think that is one of the reasons I love him, he had a wicked sense of humor.

 Next we walked to a park that my professor called the "Central Park" of Amsterdam.  They have free concerts there.  In July a woman is playing who Prince brought on tour and tried to hit on her.  But he is like 4 feet and she is like 7 feet.  Didn't work out.  But it was totally worth the story to hear my professor say "Sexy Motherfucker".

 After the park we wandered around for bit, checking out the I amsterdam sign.  We then discovered that it is impossible to say "I amsterdam" without trying to include another "am". 

When we got home we were all exhausted.  Jet leg and all the walking we are doing is wearing us out. So of course I think almost everyone took a nap.

When I woke up I realized that I had fallen asleep on my Kinder Surprise Egg.






But don't worry.  The toy was still okay.

 The next day, on Friday, we went to Haarlem, which is a 15 minute train ride from Amsterdam.  Haarlem is a pretty medieval city.







With some beautiful buildings.

 We went to the Frans Hals Museum where the curator led us through some of their most famous works.  Frans Hals was an artist that lived in Haarlem during the 17th century.  He was known for his innovation in group portraiture.

The museum is housed in a 17th century Old Men's house (crazy Dutch socialists taking care of their old).  This is the old dining hall.  It smells amazing, like really old wood.

The museum also houses a large collection of work by other prominent Dutch artists from the time period.  This is a painting of Hercules.  Bet you didn't know he was a short fat man.

 This is my favorite piece in the museum.  It is a painting that was commissioned for the city hall.  And yes you are seeing correctly.  That is a monk squeezing a nun's boob.  There are two different ideas about this painting.  One is that the painter was making fun of the church, who was known for not always being so good.  The other is that it refers to the miracle of Haarlam.  In this story a nun is accused of becoming pregnant.  So a monk (who was trained in medicine) examined her by squeezing her breast to see if milk came out.  Instead wine did, proving her innocence (or that she was just a huge lush).  If you think that miracle is strange, you should hear the miracle of Amsterdam which involves a guy throwing up in church.

The only reason I wanted to show this painting of Adam and Eve is for this close up.













It's a monkey hugging a cat!

Next we went to the Great Church of St. Bavo's of Haarlem.  It dates from the 14th century. 

 Here's an interior shot.  I have only been to two Gothic churches and already they are kind of starting to look the same.  Luckily this time we got a tour guide who told us some awesome stories.

 This is their organ.  It was designed by Christian Muller and has 5068 pipes in it.  At the time it was the biggest in the world and was considered by Muller to be his greatest work.  Apparently Mozart also played it at the age of 12.

This is the bread bank where the poor were given bread.

You can still see the scarring from the knifes from 100s of years ago.

There is even some graffiti that is dated 1626. 

 The church used to be used as a corridor between the markets.  The doors would be left open and people would just walk through.  But so did the dogs.  So the church hired people to be dog sweepers to get the dogs out of the church.  However, they had to know the dogs because they couldn't shoo out any of them who belonged to the rich people who donated to the church.

 The choir of the church is surrounded by half walls with spikes on top of them.  They were put there to stop people from climbing in.  And yes, they are still really sharp, not that we tried.

The floor of this church was also covered with graves.  The guide lowered a lamp into one so we could see how huge they were.  No, I did not see any bodies.

The Catholic in me prevailed, so I decided to light some candles for my Dad.  

We finished up with a little food.  I now officially love mayo on my french fries.  It was then back on the train and home where I again crashed.  I have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off to explore the city.  If this wind slows down I think I might try to hit to zoo or take a canal tour.

First few days in Amsterdam

After landing in Amsterdam two days ago we started to get to know the city, which can be a bit difficult if you don't know the language.  Plus the Dutch seem to have forgotten vowels in some words only to add extras in others.  But the importance of getting toilet paper was like a beacon in the night.  This is the windmill we walk by to go to the grocery store.  Cause windmills should always be on the way to any grocery store.  This is a much better landmark than Ypsi's brick dick.

 The next day we went to the University of Amsterdam and got all our paperwork and everything (exciting I know).  Then a few of us decided to sit in a cafe (cafes are coffee - coffeeshops are weed by the way) on a canal.

I took advantage of the wifi to check my messages and found out that my dad had passed away about an hour before.  This is the view I will always remember as associated with this horrible news.  When it comes down to it, its not a bad one.  Plus the people who were with me were absolutely amazing after being presented with the shocking news that I had lost my father.  I was in good hands.

 That night we went for a dinner (payed for by the University of Washington thank god).  I enjoyed a huge plate of wild vegetable mash.  When I asked the chef was the vegetable was he said he couldn't remember the name in English.  Another adventure in eating.  But it was delicious.

The next day we woke up early to go rent bikes.  This is the first bike I have had since I was a kid.  And I don't have to wear a stupid helmet with this one.

 We then started our walking tour of Central Amsterdam.  This room is the first meeting room of the Dutch East India Company that started in 1602.  It is located in the college.  Its a bit of an old building.  This is also where the Dutch invented the stock market.  But apparently we are not allowed to blame them for any current problems.

 We then went through the red light district (sorry, no photos allowed there).  Smack dab in the middle of all the prostitutes is the oldest building in the Netherlands, a church of all things.  It is called the "Old Church" (or Oude Kerk) and was dedicated in 1306.  It is under restoration almost constantly, but there was still plenty to see.

 This is a shot from inside the church.  Some of the windows are stain glass because they survived the iconoclastic riots where protestants destroyed images of Mary and Saints. 

 The stain glass that survived usually showed images of Jesus or non-religious subject matter.  These were not as offensive to the Protestants.








Notice the three x's in a column.  That is the symbol of Amsterdam and it is everywhere.

 Of course I had to point out to a few people that we were walking all over dead bodies.  People believed (and still do) that the closer they are to sacred ground when they are buried the faster they will get to heaven when Jesus has his second coming.  Nothing is closer than a church floor.  There were some of the most amazing designs on some of the stone slabs.  One even had a skull.

Also, Rembrandt's wife is buried here.

While wondering around this church I had a moment of missing my Dad intensely.  I had to separate myself from the group to have a moment.  But I could tell he was there enjoying the church with me.

 In the choir stalls there all these carvings of proverbs that are popular among the Dutch.  This one shows their version of our "money doesn't grow on trees".  To them it is "money doesn't fall out of your ass".  I think I like that one better.

Amsterdam has the largest concentration of museums in Europe.  We decided to briefly stop by one on the way to lunch, the Condom Museum.  If anyone needs anything let me know.

 Next to the place we had lunch was a mall.  Except this mall used to be a prison.  At this prison they made the men dye fabric in an attempt to reform them. (I wonder if that worked at all.)

 Finally we got some lunch.  That's right.  We had fries.  These fries are rumored to be the best in Amsterdam and possibly the world.  I have to say I think they might be right.  Plus you get to pick between eight different sauces including American sauce (ketchup) and two different kinds of Mayo.  I went with Satay (peanut) sauce.  Amazing.  Although I think I am really starting to like mayo on my fries.  Especially Belgian mayo.  Just don't tell anyone.

After that we biked back to our apartments and got to enjoy the rest of the afternoon off.  I took the time to finally unpack.  I'm pretty sure I brought way too much clothing.  Tomorrow it is the Van Gogh museum.  Now that I can't wait for.

My Dad

Yesterday on June 19th, 2012 my Dad lost his battle with cancer.  Although I hate using the term "lost".  It some how implies that he didn't fight hard enough.  And he did.  He fought with everything he had, but some things are just not meant to be.  Maybe some people are just too good to stay on this earth for long.

As horrible as this situation has been, my family in true fashion is stepping up to the plate.  My dad told me a few months ago that he was worried that the family will fall apart during this.  But after seeing us deal with everything he realized how strong we were and we naturally come together during a crisis.  He just kept repeating how proud he was of all of us and how loved he felt.  It even got to the point when the nurses would ask him how he was doing he would say, "I am so loved."  And of course we would all get exasperated and yell at him that they just wanted to know about his pain.  But that right there is classic dad.  He was always ready with a joke and spiritual look at a situation.

As soon as I found out that his cancer had progressed to stage four my first thought was to cancel my trip to Amsterdam.  My dad, who has never been one to give us ultimatums, told me there was no way in hell that I wasn't going.  He said he knew it wasn't fair, but he wanted me to go for him.  I am so glad he did.  As much as I want to be home with my family right now, I am in the right place.  There is plenty to do to distract me.  Plus now I feel like he is here with me.  Instead of just getting to see my photos he gets to see me be happy in a wonderful place surrounded by art.  And me being happy is all he has ever wanted for me.  Also talking to my siblings it is so nice to hear they are taking care of each other and are really happy that I am staying here to have this experience.  I really could not have asked for better when it comes to family.

There are many things that I will always miss about my Dad.  I will miss our weekly phone conversations where he told me all the crazy things that had happened in the prison.  I will miss the way that he always had the most spiritual advice for any situation I found myself in.  I will miss the undying faith he had in my strength to not only make it through any situation, but thrive as well, even when I don't have that faith myself.  And most of all I will miss his stupid jokes that he has told a million times.  I guess now we will have to carry on the tradition.

I love you Dad and I know you will always be with me telling me I can do anything I want and being proud of me for taking chances at finding my happiness.  If anyone gives you trouble in heaven let me know, I'll kick their ass for you.

Back in the New York Groove

 I landed in Amsterdam safely after a brief stay in New York to visit my sis.  The first night I was there we went to a Met's game.  Neither one of us has any interest in baseball, but we like beer, so there you go.  We had no idea it would turn out to be such a star studded evening.

 It all started off with Aaron Carter taking time away from his meth to sing the National Anthem.

 Then Bill O'Reilly threw out the first pitch.  He was booed (naturally).

After the Mets lost (of course) REO Speedwagon played.  Me and Mary were incredibly giddy knowing they were coming up. 











We only ended up staying for a few songs, mostly cause the lead singer couldn't remember the words.  But Mary sang "Take it on the Run" with enough passion to make up for it.









We spent the next day having amazing BBQ in Harlem then we snuck into a movie.  We planned on seeing the Wes Anderson film but neglected the fact that it was a Saturday and the movie sold out.  So we bought tickets for Rock of Ages and snuck into Moonrise Kingdom.  Then the two of us proceeded to have a complete freak out about getting caught.  Mary was worried that if we got caught they would have to call our Mom to come pick us up.  I was convinced we were breaking the law.  Went off without a hitch.  After that we went to a bar with a few of her friends.  I have to say, the last call at 4am thing is kind of nice.

On Sunday we slept late (naturally) and then went to get some kick ass Key Lime Pie.  Then it was off to the airport to send me over seas.  I'm really glad I spent the time with Mary.  Good times and great talks.

I'm sitting at the airport waiting to fly to New York to hang out with my sister for a few days before heading to Amsterdam.

I did not realize I would be this nervous.  You know that feeling when you go on a trip that you forgot something.  It is even worse when you are going to be gone for two months and for some reason believe you are going to a third world country where they don't sell shampoo.

I had to pay for my baggage cause it weighs a whopping 65 pounds.  I must somehow fix that situation once I get to New York.

By the way, I'm pretty sure this blog will consist of my vary random thoughts.  But I promise there will be cool pictures to go along with it.  For now I'll just post this picture of a dog who I hope doesn't forget me while I'm gone.

Yes, that is her with a beer can.