insanity. this place is unreal!!!
lauren and i have been in the netherlands for just over thirty hours, and it's been unreal. once we got past some initial issues (ms. donnelly had a little trouble with the plane food), everything started falling into place.
my friend james, who i met through jacob at the FEU in paris, has been living here for almost two years, and like a gem not only said we could stay in his apartment, but that he would fetch us from the airport! so, that was great. we've only met twice before this but everything fell into place, he's such a fantastic host and easy guy to get along with! so, once we got back to his apartment (which is INCREDIBLE, it's absolutely huge and clean and decorated like a magazine... also has a living room with all windows looking over a canal) and called the parentals to let them know we were a-ok, had an espresso from his darling machine, then we decided to venture out for some food.
we ended up at this little lunch place in the centrum which was VERY cheap (3e25) for a huge, delicious sandwich with young dutch gouda (oh yes. cheese prevails.), chives, tomato, cucumber and lettuce on a panini. oh. man. after a bold move (i may or may not have pooped in the men's bathroom because some broad was probably doing the same thing in the ladies') we moved on to get donnelly a cell phone, which was sold to us by an adorable (-ly hot) dutch man who was also hilarious. excuse me... she lost her phone number. can we have yours? then we walked over to james' favorite coffee shop (which clearly does not sell coffee, but has a great selection of weed and hash), and he knew the people there so it was a totally friendly and enjoyable place. it's a strange thing to know that i've moved to a place where these things are basically legal... and i'm too broke to really partake of it! but in all honesty, i've had my time to chill with the herbal and i can't imagine living here for a shorter time than humanly possible just so i can smoke. this is a growing experience for sure... priorities. and my priority is to stay here as long as i can because i think i may be in heaven.
then we walked to vondel park, which i vaguely remembered from my previous adventures here (although, understandably so, not so well), and it was wonderful. dutch babies are infinitely cuter than american babies, and the park was resplendent in the baby sector. so we hunkered down on a lovely patch of grass in the sunshine and talked about science(!) while we watched a group of people do yoga on TOP of other people. it was amazing! i would love to be able to get to a point where i can do things with my body again that are cooler than just running and exercising.
then we walked back and went to our first dutch grocery store, which was obviously awesome. so many new cheeses! but james is an excellent chef, so we bought food for him to cook for us (which as much as it was a thank-you for him, the food was in turn a better gift for us!), and he made a DELICIOUS cheesecake and some kind of italian pasta with a vegetable-y red sauce. further proving that yes, indeed, i am evolving as a person- red sauce AND cheesecake, two things i don't necessarily love, but i ate them and i did in fact love it. the picky eater of my childhood has evolved for sure!
the strangest thing is how late it stays light out here. i didn't even think about it, but we're so much further north! it was light out until well past 10 pm last night, and apparently by the time june 21 rolls around it'll stay light until past 11:30! what a wonderful treat. sunlight is the best gift in the world.
so after much cooking, chatting, and eating, lauren and i finally succumbed to the jet lag we had been resisting so hard. i slept better last night than i have in a very long time, and it was much needed. we woke up at 9 this morning to take the train to den haag, where we met our landlord- taco. oh yes, that's right- our landlord's name is taco. taco is a great man, young and dutch and hilarious! he met us at den haag centraal and took us to the room we're going to rent for the month of june, which is tight quarters to be sure but for 400e a month, it's in a nice part of town and there's a bathroom, kitchen, and washing machine to share. apparently the other people in the building (i think there are three?) also work in the ICTY or ICC where lauren will be, and one of them is a girl named sarah from chicago! coincidence? if only it was my love. but in any event, it'll be nice to live with people who are already acquainted with the city and maybe know some things that would be helpful to us.
so basically, in thirty hours, we have accomplished everything we need to do. the only thing left is to find me a job! everyone seems very positive about it though- apparently jobs in restaurants and bars are pretty easy to find under the table, if i can't find a nanny position. i'm very, very hopeful about this! i've never wanted so badly to find employment to make this work. it's the first time i've made some kind of crazy move that wasn't as a student, with specific goals and finances and the whole two bits. this is totally up to me to make this work, and i'm going to succeed! it'll happen. it has to happen. this place is just so damn happy.
everyone here is SO nice, in a way that i've never known abroad. paris was fantastic, obviously, but i never felt wholly at home there. the language barrier was too hard, even though i do speak a decent amount of french, and the people were just less-than-friendly about it. however, everyone here is just so helpful, so nice, and so... awesome. everyone rides around on their bikes with their beautiful blonde hair blowing in the wind and flowers in their baskets with big smiles on their faces, and i can clearly understand why. this place just oozes happy.
the most important thing is working on the wee one. KRISTIN ROSSI GET HERE NOW. we did some video chatting last night and i'm pretty sure it was the most convincing argument the don and i have ever made. it's real. kristin, get here! also, the rest of you. everyone. we've hatched a grand plan to create the waffle hague.
so we're now about to take a little nap, and james is making a banana cream pie whilst we sleep and then we're going swimming! then back to finish the pie and make some kind of vegetable risotto. this. is. insane.
on the plane i was doing a lot of thinking, and i'm really very lucky. and i've always known this, but at this point it's starting to blow my mind. i like to think that i've worked for what i've done, but i know a lot of people really made this happen for me. and not only that (which is amazing, p.s., shirley and butch are my heroes and i love you guys, also thank goodness for the generosity of the grandma), but the people who make me miss home. i am so lucky to have not only the best family, but the people in that haus absolutely made this past year the most incredible of my life- the five of us functioning together in our little love nest really gave me some kind of experience that i can't quite put my finger on, but it solidified something in my heart that makes me ache for the haus and those people. caitlin. kaila. kristin. GET HERE. and everyone else fantastic that i'm missing in a big way- you know who you are. thank you for being in my life in such a positive way... and thank you for supporting me in this crazy, insane venture that we're making.
so now, it's time to go make a banana cream pie and go swimming! and then make some dinner, maybe have a little night out on the a'dam-town, and then get ready to move into our first place. i'm rambling, i know, but i've never had so many thoughts going through my brain! so thank you, blog, for providing me with solace from keeping these thoughts only to myself. if they didn't come out, i think i'd explode.
oh and hey, ik houd van u.
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