So far so good. I met up with Adam, Jamie and Tom at the airport and started off. We are driving around in a small e-class Mercedes-Benz and we have a lot of luggage between all of us. It's packed, but fun.
While we were going through the car and sorting out how to pack everything I came across Jamie's bag and found an entire pack of sugar. I looked at Jamie and asked why he had it. He just turned to me and with a straight face said "I'm British, it's for tea, man!" I laughed so hard. Typical Brit haha :)
The first two days were spent in Amsterdam. A great city. We actually found a campsite (we packed tents) and slept there for the two nights. It's right by the tram which took us into central station and downtown. It worked well.
While checking in we were speaking with the man at the front desk and we noticed he wasn't fully with us. We believe he may have enjoyed some of the local special (marihuana). It was funny because he was enjoying a snickers while checking us in and he was so into eating it. Marihuana is legal in this area.
We went out to the bars and enjoyed the night life. It was interesting. It was definitely very different than Africa. It's a good experience and comparison to have seen.
Yes, you are all thinking it, Amsterdam is home to the Red Light District. I found it's fairly hard to maneuver around downtown and the bars without passing by it. It's pretty crazy if you ask me, but, once again, just a part of the experience.
(No, I do not like it, but it's literally right there so it's hard to miss. Quite like walking into your kitchen and noticing your refrigerator. It's just there.)
I actually was wearing the t-shirt that I received in Tanzania from the religious seminary. One of the men we passed by commented on it and asked what my religion was. I told him Catholic /Christianity. He was really nice actually and shook my hand and said "man, you just came to Hell." Ha, I suppose it isn't where the Pope would be seen, but we are all sinners. We must meet everyone at where they are at.
Amsterdam is also home to a lot of cheese stores. Cheeeeesssseeeeee. It's fun because each store sells those big rolls of cheese that are like 25 pounds each. A lot of cheese. We decided to buy a slice (we love our cheese) and we stuck it in our bag. We then walked over to the bar (natural reaction to buy a beer after acquiring cheese) and we had our bag checked at the door.
The bouncer looked in and questioned what it was. Tom just looked at him and said "it's cheese." The bouncer was confused and asked again. Tom responded, "it's cheese, man!" The bouncer looked back, smiled and responded "ah, great man, you're good!" Haha it was funny!
We passed by Anne Franks house, but the line to enter was outrageously long. We didn't have much time and so we just stood outside of it.
We have bought some food from the grocery store near by. The bags we got from the store were super nice. I commented on how great the plastic bags were and my friends just laughed. It is obvious I have been in Africa for a year. I am amazed by the plastic bags at the grocery store.
Europe also has Magnum ice cream bars. If you haven't had one you must try. They are great. In addition, I stopped by a McDonald's while in the Netherlands and they serve little packets of mayonnaise. I don't believe they do that in America. People love to eat their fries with mayonnaise.
So, everything is good here. We spent the night in Rotterdam and the nightlife here was great. A lot of fun. Now we are heading to Belgium for the day. We will spend the night in Brussels. I have a friend from CSB/SJU that has spent her year in France. She is actually in Brussels now and so we are planning to meet up. That will be fun.
To conclude, the British have different slang words then us in America. For example, they will ask "are you peckish?" in order to see if you are hungry. Interesting.
One term I thought was a bit funny was their comment "you're a bit o' crumpet" when they see someone they like. I suppose comparing a person to a crumpet isn't good, but it's almost cute. I guess we can't take offense to everything. It's said in a kind way too.
Well, that's all for now. We are at the Rotterdam market now (it's a massive indoor market full of shops). Heading to Belgium, then Paris and then onwards to the U.K. in the coming days.
All is well.
Thanks for reading!
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