Tomorrow I leave Samara and the thought of it brings tears to my eyes. I´m already dreaming of my next visit. There is not an ounce of me that wants to leave this place.
Onward, I suppose. I cant imagine things could get much better than they are right now, but there´s no choice in the matter, so I go....
A week from today will be my first day on the job in Tambopata.
The days until then are going to be interesting, I´m sure, with lots of transport involved (a flight from San Jose to Miami, then Miami to Lima, then two days in Lima, and another flight from Lima to Puerto Maldonado, where I´ll spend one day, then my 7 hour boat ride out to the research station, then I´m home free...) Moments of intense transport are always the most stressful ones, but I´m sure I´ll make it.
I´ll write more once I´m in Lima. For now, I need to go soak up the last moments of my time here.
Love to you all.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
a super good night
This Saturday night Alice bangs on my door asking me if I want to go to a fiesta at Hilarios families house. I asked where it was and they motioned that it was just up the road, so I said yeah, sure, and we all packed into two cars and went on our way. Just up the road ended up being waaaaayyy out in the hills of Guanacaste (the region of Costa Rica I'm staying in) down some really long, somewhat trecherous roads. Eventually we come to a hilltop and there's a single light on in the distance on a neighboring hill and Hilario tells me that that's where we're going. We arrived eventually to the house of Hilarios uncle and aunt who are dairy cow farmers. His uncle cares for the cows and his aunt makes cheese with the milk to sell in the local market. During the final length of the drive we're passing groups of people making their way by foot down the dark, dark road, on their way to the fiesta. Hilario would shout out a greeting or joke or whatever to each group, as he knew everyone and was related to most of the people we were passing. He later explained to me that his family has been living on this particular hill in this particular village for many many generations. We eventually arrived at a big old barn that was all lit up, where all the people were conviening. Inside the barn there were little tables with chairs lining the outside of the room and the middle was left empty for dancing. There was a guy in one of the corners playing salsa and merengue music (very loudly). The day before this, a guy who had been a student at the same school I'm now attending arrived for a visit to Samara and was staying with Alice and Hilario (they introduced him as their 'hijo', their son) and so I was one of two gringos (white people) at the party. There were probably 100 people crowded into the barn, and spilling out the back doors into a big field. We sat and socialized and drank beer and eventually some of the women made a huge feast for everyone (none of which I was able to try for the fact that pork was a main ingredient in everything) and it was just a really really good time. Brandon (the other gringo) and I were wondering when the dancing would start and continued to wonder this basically all night, as it never did start. However, Brandon is big on dancing and insisted that we go out to the field behind the barn and he would show me the basic steps for a few salsa dances, and he also showed me one country western dance that applied well to salsa music (he's from Texas and is a classic southern gentleman, very christian, very sweet, but at the same time, very foreign to me). He somehow convinced me to go back to the barn with him and dance the country western dance in the middle of the barn, with everyone watching! Anyhow, somehow I go for it, and at the end everyone applauded! It felt really really good to just seize the moment and do something completely out of my nature. Beyond good, really. A little later we went back to the field and befriended a big pack of kids who were playing there. They were very intreagued by us and thought we were loads of fun and they ended up following us everywhere, like the pied piper. We all danced around in a circle and seriously just had a blast.
Eventually Hilario told us it was time to go so we took the long ride back to Samara and stopped at a bar in town that was having a salsa night, this time with lots of dancing people. Brandon insisted that I try out the new moves he had taught me and so again I just went for it and had a ball doing so.
At the end of the night I fell asleep just feeling so lucky to get to see places like this and meet great people and do things like go to parties way out in the countryside of Costa Rica... To get glimpses of life in places so forign to my own New England world. It's just wonderful.
The night was just really inspiring and elating and I thought I should share it with you all. :-)
Eventually Hilario told us it was time to go so we took the long ride back to Samara and stopped at a bar in town that was having a salsa night, this time with lots of dancing people. Brandon insisted that I try out the new moves he had taught me and so again I just went for it and had a ball doing so.
At the end of the night I fell asleep just feeling so lucky to get to see places like this and meet great people and do things like go to parties way out in the countryside of Costa Rica... To get glimpses of life in places so forign to my own New England world. It's just wonderful.
The night was just really inspiring and elating and I thought I should share it with you all. :-)
Friday, January 18, 2008
beach life
Well, it´s been two weeks now that I´ve been in Samara, which is kindof astonishing to me, because it hardly feels like it´s been that long. Perhaps it´s having a routine that makes time go by so quickly... I´m absolutely delighted with my trip so far, and really, things couldn´t get too much better. The daily grind includes waking up to roosters and monkeys outside, eating a fresh fruit breakfast, walking to school on the beach, taking my classes and spending the rest of the day on the beach, reading my book or studying Spanish. I´ve made some really nice friends here in town, which makes things all that much better. Just this afternoon one friend with a car drove a few of us to a neighboring town for a change of scene and we spent the afternoon at a restaurant with an amazing bar-terrace, where we drank cold beer and admired the view and the breeze. Again, not too hard to take. At all.
My new tico "family" couldn´t really be sweeter, either. Alice is a jovial old woman who cooks amazing food and trys her hardest to help me understand her jokes. Some mornings I´ll wake up to blasting salsa music and she´s cooking away in the kitchen, singing and dancing all the while. Hilario is Alices husband and is also really sweet. He makes a real effort at meals to hold conversations, which are sometimes painfully slow, but he still sticks with me, and trys to teach me things I might not know, like names of animals I´ve never seen and suchlike. In addition to these two, there´s a constant flow of family and friends who come and go all day. They definetly have a very close family and value family above just about everything else. They like to sit around and joke and tell stories, and although I only get about 60% of what they´re saying, it´s just a nice glimpse into a lifestyle very different from my own. They´re becoming more and more comfortable around me and I already know I´ll be really sad to say goodbye not only to them but to this whole town, when the time comes. One of my best friends here is an 84 year old man named Elmer, who lives down here half the year and spends the rest in British Columbia. He´s originally from Hungary and has traveled all over the world and is a wealth of wonderful stories, which he willingly and enthusiastically recounts to any listening ear. I´ve spent quite a few nights sitting with him in the rocking chairs on the porch, listening to his tales and just enjoying the good company. It´s indeed amazing the characters you meet when you´re new to a place.
School itself is really great, and I definetly am understanding a lot more now than I was when I arrived, which was my objective, and therefore, I consider the whole trip thus far to be a success. My classmates this week were more into the whole thing (last week I had some really immature and unfocused girls who were basically just here for a tan), which really helps, because the enthusiasm just sortof brings the whole class up.
All in all, things are just about perfect, and although this is on the short side, I cant think of much else to say besides that it´s not too shabby livng in paradise. Not too shabby at all.
My new tico "family" couldn´t really be sweeter, either. Alice is a jovial old woman who cooks amazing food and trys her hardest to help me understand her jokes. Some mornings I´ll wake up to blasting salsa music and she´s cooking away in the kitchen, singing and dancing all the while. Hilario is Alices husband and is also really sweet. He makes a real effort at meals to hold conversations, which are sometimes painfully slow, but he still sticks with me, and trys to teach me things I might not know, like names of animals I´ve never seen and suchlike. In addition to these two, there´s a constant flow of family and friends who come and go all day. They definetly have a very close family and value family above just about everything else. They like to sit around and joke and tell stories, and although I only get about 60% of what they´re saying, it´s just a nice glimpse into a lifestyle very different from my own. They´re becoming more and more comfortable around me and I already know I´ll be really sad to say goodbye not only to them but to this whole town, when the time comes. One of my best friends here is an 84 year old man named Elmer, who lives down here half the year and spends the rest in British Columbia. He´s originally from Hungary and has traveled all over the world and is a wealth of wonderful stories, which he willingly and enthusiastically recounts to any listening ear. I´ve spent quite a few nights sitting with him in the rocking chairs on the porch, listening to his tales and just enjoying the good company. It´s indeed amazing the characters you meet when you´re new to a place.
School itself is really great, and I definetly am understanding a lot more now than I was when I arrived, which was my objective, and therefore, I consider the whole trip thus far to be a success. My classmates this week were more into the whole thing (last week I had some really immature and unfocused girls who were basically just here for a tan), which really helps, because the enthusiasm just sortof brings the whole class up.
All in all, things are just about perfect, and although this is on the short side, I cant think of much else to say besides that it´s not too shabby livng in paradise. Not too shabby at all.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
back in the saddle
It´s abslolutely amazing how quickly this day has come since my last post in Europe. The two months spent at home were wonderful and leaving was dificult because it felt as though I had just returned and had hardly had time enough to settle in before leaving again.
The first two days of this trip have been a bit stressful but at last I have arrived at my destination, Playa Samara, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The troubles began pretty much instantly, as there were electrical problems with the plane at JFK, delaying take off for more than an hour, and making everyone on the plane a bit nervous, considering they had to bring electricians onboard two times. The flight was smooth enough once we were up in the air, but because of the initial delay I ended up missing my connecting flight in Houston and therefore missing the people at the airport who were supposed to be picking me up in San Jose. In Houston I was literally the last person admitted onto the plane, I had standby status and at the last minute a few people who had been delayed in Minnisota were not able to make it and so I got to take one of their places, thank god, considering the alternative was to take a flight at 6pm, getting me to San Jose at about 10. Upon arrival in Costa Rica, I was absolutely astonished and elated to see that my luggage had somehow arrived with me. I was not so suprised, however, to see that whoever was going to pick me up was no longer there. I must have looked like a lost puppy because I had one after another taxi driver trying to get me into their cars, but since I had only a name of the town I was going to and the name of the person I was staying with along with a phone number, I had no idea what to do. One semi-English-speaking driver kindly used his cell phone to call the woman I was staying with and got directions and eventually got me to my destination, thank god. Maria, my host for the night, welcomed me warmly and tried her hardest to converse with me despite the fact that she spoke not a word of English. The next day I was expecting to take a bus from the school in Heridia (the suburban town outside of San Jose where I was staying), as I had recieved an email from them saying one was leaving at 10am. However, Maria called ahead to confirm the bus schedule and they said that there was no bus and that I would have to find my own way to Samara. Luckily, Maria and her husband Jorge were willing to take me into San Jose to the public bus stop and helped me with buying my ticket and figuring out where to go. Thank god for the kindness of strangers. The bus ride took about 5 hours, costing $7. At first I was happy to see that I had the front seat, with a great view out the front window. Then I realized the guy sitting next to me was retarded and decidedly had a crush on me. oi vey. He kept asking me all kinds of questions to which I would reply that I didn´t understand because I dont speak much Spanish. He kept on going with his questions and I eventually had no choice but to ignore him. He had a plastic ice-cream cone toy that had a button which, when pressed, played a familiar synthisizer song from the 80´s. He must have pressed the button 200 times before the batteries finally died. Thank god. Toward the second half of the trip he started to get bored and somewhat destructive and started pulling the metal trim from around the window off and throwing the peices out the window. He also grabbed my arm a few times and I had to just push him away and say no and he would be good for another 20 minutes or so. Interesting trip. I was happy to arrive in Samara and be away from him. I called my new host family and they came to pick me up and bring me to their house. The family is huge, with lots of kids and even more mangy looking dogs around. They have chickens that just sortof wander about and roost in the trees and make a lot of noise, and a few roosters that started cock'a'doodle'doodling around 5am. My room is very simple but so far bug-free, which is pleasing. I have my own bathroom with a cold-water shower, and the people are nice. Last night was the birthday of Alices daughter (Alice is my host "mother") and the festivities were incredibly loud, with music and lots of talking and dancing. It was a fun glimpse into tico life. Alice runs a soda out of her kitchen (sodas are privately run mini-restaurants) and the food so far is decent. This morning my alarm clock was first the roosters and then an hour or so later, the howler monkeys, who are extremely loud, and who seem to be extremely close to the ceiling of my room. I had delicious fresh papaya and pineapple for breakfast and went for a long walk on the beach. I have yet to get more than my feet in the water, but I´m looking forward to a swim. The sun is beyond powerful and my winter white skin is feeling vulnerable, but it´s all good. I´m looking forward to my first day of classes tomorrow morning, and meeting my fellow students, who will hopefully be a good bunch. I´ll write more when there´s more to write. Love to you all!
The first two days of this trip have been a bit stressful but at last I have arrived at my destination, Playa Samara, on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. The troubles began pretty much instantly, as there were electrical problems with the plane at JFK, delaying take off for more than an hour, and making everyone on the plane a bit nervous, considering they had to bring electricians onboard two times. The flight was smooth enough once we were up in the air, but because of the initial delay I ended up missing my connecting flight in Houston and therefore missing the people at the airport who were supposed to be picking me up in San Jose. In Houston I was literally the last person admitted onto the plane, I had standby status and at the last minute a few people who had been delayed in Minnisota were not able to make it and so I got to take one of their places, thank god, considering the alternative was to take a flight at 6pm, getting me to San Jose at about 10. Upon arrival in Costa Rica, I was absolutely astonished and elated to see that my luggage had somehow arrived with me. I was not so suprised, however, to see that whoever was going to pick me up was no longer there. I must have looked like a lost puppy because I had one after another taxi driver trying to get me into their cars, but since I had only a name of the town I was going to and the name of the person I was staying with along with a phone number, I had no idea what to do. One semi-English-speaking driver kindly used his cell phone to call the woman I was staying with and got directions and eventually got me to my destination, thank god. Maria, my host for the night, welcomed me warmly and tried her hardest to converse with me despite the fact that she spoke not a word of English. The next day I was expecting to take a bus from the school in Heridia (the suburban town outside of San Jose where I was staying), as I had recieved an email from them saying one was leaving at 10am. However, Maria called ahead to confirm the bus schedule and they said that there was no bus and that I would have to find my own way to Samara. Luckily, Maria and her husband Jorge were willing to take me into San Jose to the public bus stop and helped me with buying my ticket and figuring out where to go. Thank god for the kindness of strangers. The bus ride took about 5 hours, costing $7. At first I was happy to see that I had the front seat, with a great view out the front window. Then I realized the guy sitting next to me was retarded and decidedly had a crush on me. oi vey. He kept asking me all kinds of questions to which I would reply that I didn´t understand because I dont speak much Spanish. He kept on going with his questions and I eventually had no choice but to ignore him. He had a plastic ice-cream cone toy that had a button which, when pressed, played a familiar synthisizer song from the 80´s. He must have pressed the button 200 times before the batteries finally died. Thank god. Toward the second half of the trip he started to get bored and somewhat destructive and started pulling the metal trim from around the window off and throwing the peices out the window. He also grabbed my arm a few times and I had to just push him away and say no and he would be good for another 20 minutes or so. Interesting trip. I was happy to arrive in Samara and be away from him. I called my new host family and they came to pick me up and bring me to their house. The family is huge, with lots of kids and even more mangy looking dogs around. They have chickens that just sortof wander about and roost in the trees and make a lot of noise, and a few roosters that started cock'a'doodle'doodling around 5am. My room is very simple but so far bug-free, which is pleasing. I have my own bathroom with a cold-water shower, and the people are nice. Last night was the birthday of Alices daughter (Alice is my host "mother") and the festivities were incredibly loud, with music and lots of talking and dancing. It was a fun glimpse into tico life. Alice runs a soda out of her kitchen (sodas are privately run mini-restaurants) and the food so far is decent. This morning my alarm clock was first the roosters and then an hour or so later, the howler monkeys, who are extremely loud, and who seem to be extremely close to the ceiling of my room. I had delicious fresh papaya and pineapple for breakfast and went for a long walk on the beach. I have yet to get more than my feet in the water, but I´m looking forward to a swim. The sun is beyond powerful and my winter white skin is feeling vulnerable, but it´s all good. I´m looking forward to my first day of classes tomorrow morning, and meeting my fellow students, who will hopefully be a good bunch. I´ll write more when there´s more to write. Love to you all!
Friday, October 26, 2007
nearing the end
One week from today I'll be back stateside, enjoying the comforts of home and trying to make sense of everything that has happened over the last few months. I stay awake thinking about how I dont want this trip to be over and how it feels as though I just left yesterday and now I'm already headed back. Being on the go all the time makes the time fly, but when I really think about all the places I've seen, and look through my pictures, I realize that indeed it has been a while that I've been over here.
I'm now writing this from Simon and Susies lovely apartment in Berlin, which I arrived to yesterday. They've done a nice job with their place, which is nice and open and sunny (or it would be sunny, I can tell, without all the clouds in the sky). They seem more happy and in love than ever, and I'm really really happy to see them both. I have yet to get out and explore this city at all but Susies dad, Remi, is going to take us out on a driving tour of the city later today, which I'm excited for.
The last two weeks in Italy were quite lovely, with lots of great memories in the making. I have to say, though, that I'm glad to be away not so much from the country itself but rather its inhabitants. Italians in general did not make a very good impression on me, and seemed rather pushy and arrogant on the whole. I realize I had a very limited experience with them, but I have a new appreciation for the general courtesy that most people grant to others in the states, and in lots of other European countries, too, but which seemed to be missing in Italy. Mom and I ended up losing track of what day it was in Venice, where we had an apartment bed and breakfast booked for 6 days, and we went back to Rome a day early, which we did not realize until we tried to check in to our hotel there, and the receptionist told us that we were not scheduled to arrive until the following day. Needless to say, we ended up with an extra day in Rome, which was great because we had not really seen all we wanted to in the day and a half that we had at the beginning of the trip. We went to see the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, but were appalled by the lines snaking their way back for what seemed like eternity (we literally could not see the beginning of the line), so we decided to go for a walkabout and come back later to see if the madness had dissipated. We wandered into the square in front of Saint Peters Basilica and lo and behold, who's there but the pope himself, doing is weekly public address.. we could hardly believe our eyes, and were amazed at the fact that we had no intention of attending, as the thousand-or-so other people in the square had, but instead just happened upon him by accident. Pretty cool. When we went back to the line for the Sistine Chapel, we found that the entire line had disappeared and we bought our tickets and joined the throngs inside, but loved it regardless, and were left amazed, like at many other points in our time in Italy, at the power and influence of the church in Italian culture.
Soo.... this could perhaps be my last post for this chapter of my adventures. When I get down about the fact that I'm going home and that the trip is nearly over, I remind myself that not only are the comforts of home going to be delicious, but also that looming in the distance is a perhaps even greater adventure in Costa Rica and Peru, which I have hardly had time to plan or think about, but which I am certain will be wonderful. Lots of good things to look forward to and to reflect upon and to experience here and now... lucky lucky lucky....
I'm now writing this from Simon and Susies lovely apartment in Berlin, which I arrived to yesterday. They've done a nice job with their place, which is nice and open and sunny (or it would be sunny, I can tell, without all the clouds in the sky). They seem more happy and in love than ever, and I'm really really happy to see them both. I have yet to get out and explore this city at all but Susies dad, Remi, is going to take us out on a driving tour of the city later today, which I'm excited for.
The last two weeks in Italy were quite lovely, with lots of great memories in the making. I have to say, though, that I'm glad to be away not so much from the country itself but rather its inhabitants. Italians in general did not make a very good impression on me, and seemed rather pushy and arrogant on the whole. I realize I had a very limited experience with them, but I have a new appreciation for the general courtesy that most people grant to others in the states, and in lots of other European countries, too, but which seemed to be missing in Italy. Mom and I ended up losing track of what day it was in Venice, where we had an apartment bed and breakfast booked for 6 days, and we went back to Rome a day early, which we did not realize until we tried to check in to our hotel there, and the receptionist told us that we were not scheduled to arrive until the following day. Needless to say, we ended up with an extra day in Rome, which was great because we had not really seen all we wanted to in the day and a half that we had at the beginning of the trip. We went to see the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, but were appalled by the lines snaking their way back for what seemed like eternity (we literally could not see the beginning of the line), so we decided to go for a walkabout and come back later to see if the madness had dissipated. We wandered into the square in front of Saint Peters Basilica and lo and behold, who's there but the pope himself, doing is weekly public address.. we could hardly believe our eyes, and were amazed at the fact that we had no intention of attending, as the thousand-or-so other people in the square had, but instead just happened upon him by accident. Pretty cool. When we went back to the line for the Sistine Chapel, we found that the entire line had disappeared and we bought our tickets and joined the throngs inside, but loved it regardless, and were left amazed, like at many other points in our time in Italy, at the power and influence of the church in Italian culture.
Soo.... this could perhaps be my last post for this chapter of my adventures. When I get down about the fact that I'm going home and that the trip is nearly over, I remind myself that not only are the comforts of home going to be delicious, but also that looming in the distance is a perhaps even greater adventure in Costa Rica and Peru, which I have hardly had time to plan or think about, but which I am certain will be wonderful. Lots of good things to look forward to and to reflect upon and to experience here and now... lucky lucky lucky....
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Italia
How incredibly wonderful it is to be exploring such a beautiful place with my best buddy at last! To begin at the beginning, though, the last night I spent in a hostel was probably my most uncomfortable one yet. I arrived to Romes central train-bus station at about 11 pm after a long day of transit to darkness and rain. I've heard so many bad things about Italian men in particular that I was very hesitant to stop and ask for directions, and besides this, the vast majority of people you meet dont speak any English at all. I wandered around a while and after an hour or so of walking in the rain I arrived at my hostel to find out that they had overbooked the rooms and so I sat in the "lobby" (a couple of gross old couches next to the two beds that the Indian dudes who run the place sleep in at night, seperated from the rest of the hostel by only a couple of shower curtains) while they juggled people around to find me a spot. They eventually solved the problem and I got my bed and took a shower after I realized that the 24 people to a shower ratio would lead to a long line in the morning if I were to wait. The guy running the hostel spent over an hour standing in the big window of the room I was in, arguing with his girlfriend and keeping everyone awake. Oi vey. I eventually fell asleep, thinking that the next two weeks would be so far from this sort of reality and that comfort was around the corner. The next morning I made my way to the hotel where I was to meet mom and checked in and was completly elated to see her not long after my arrival. It's so wonderful to be able to share this experience with her! We spent the first two days exploring Rome, which is just as lucious as a city could be. The air itself feels thick and juicy... the huge palm trees and enormous old houses and of course the ancient center with the Pantheon, Colloseum, etc, etc... just amazing. We walked till we could walk no more and ate good food and drank fantastic coffee... wonderful. After our two days in Rome we took a train ride north to Florence where we rented a car and got ridiculously lost trying to find our way into Tuscany, where we have been the last two days. The scenery here is exactly what I had imagined it to be, with huge old vineyards and tall cyprus trees and winding roads. We're pleasantly suprised, as well, to see that there are almost no chains of any kind here. No huge hotels or McDonalds or anything of the sort. The beauty is in what this place is and also what it is not. We've been staying in San Giminiano, a walled midevial city atop a tall hill, with incredible panoramic views and perfectly preserved historical buildings. There are really too many details to even write about, so I'll just say that the trip has been a dream come true thus far and it's more beautiful than I ever imagined it could be. It's great to have a travel companion and it's great to be getting out into the far out places that having a car allows one to see. Fantastically wonderfully beautifully grand. That's it in a nut shell. I'll leave it at that.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Amsterdam fun
Just arrived in Brussels after four beautiful days in what is my favorite European city yet, Amsterdam. The city itself looks a lot like Bruges but is a much bigger version, with much more action going on and more of a big city feel to it. The buildings are again very typically Dutch... tall and thin with interesting detailing at the roof line and with big windows maximizing the canal views. There are again arching bridges over the canals, which are lined with beautiful old boats of all types of design. Perhaps the highlight of my time in this city, besides Simons company in general, was the afternoon we spent on rented bicycles, touring around the city with the hundreds of thousands of other people on their bicycles. Seriously, besides the architectural beauty of the city, the thing that most struck me, and one of the things I loved most about the city and the attitude of the people who live in it, was the use of bicycles. For them they are a priority, and have been for many many generations, and it is therefore sortof part of the national psyche to use a bike as a daily way of getting to points within the city. The bike paths are thorough and well kept and logical and connect litterally everything within the city. There are people of every age peddaling together, grey hair or training wheels, it's all there. I was really quite struck by the Dutch people and their laid back attitude, where they are very practical and sensible, they are also easy going and are not people to interfere with the decisions of others. Besides this, they all speak impecable English and are entirely polite and welcoming to the tourists who swarm their city. All in all, it was a very accessable city for an outsider. I felt a bit of jealousy for people who get to live in such a lovely society and such a clean and practical city. There are, of course, the neighborhoods that Amsterdam is notorious for, along with all the beauty and practicality, but these neighborhoods, as far as I could tell, were about ninety-five percent tourists looking to partake in any of the miriad activities this city allows, but really, I dont think the Dutch people themselves are frequenting the "coffee shops" or red-light district on any sort of a regular basis. My favorite areas were definetly far away from these places, in the more residential neighborhoods, which frequently have little squares with cafes where people were relaxing and spending their afternoon with friends or reading, and just generally enjoying the lovely afternoon from what I could see. All in all, Amsterdam was wonderful and I hope that I'll one day be able to return for perhaps a longer bit of time. I was instantly trying to come up with ideas as to how I could reasonably find employment to stay for a bit of time. We'll see... :-) It was also wonderful to spend a bit of time with my beloved brother and get to experience a foreign place with him, no matter if only for a couple of days. Today I'm in Brussels, where there is a nice older neighborhood center surrounded by a lot of financial/industrial sort of buildings. I'm only here for two days and will spend them washing my laundry and repacking my bag in preparation for Itlay, which I'm totally psyched for. It's amazing that I'll be there in only a couple of days, and mom will be there, and it will be warm and wonderful. It's all great and exciting and fantastic. I feel so lucky to be over here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
