Amsterdam.08-26-08

I didn’t do much today. It was a cold cloudy day. I slept in late until 9:30 and got to breakfast just as it was closing. All I ever get for breakfast in Europe is a couple of sandwiches. Well, today I was smarter and swiped two more for lunch later. I just wrapped them up in a couple of napkins to keep them moist and hid them in my bag. (To grab food for later is called “theft” here, go figure why.) So, yeah, I had to hide them. Tomorrow I will be smarter. In the morning I will jump out of bed with the other girls and run down to breakfast steal 3 sandwiches and a liter of apple juice over a period of 2 hours. Hopefully, I will have time to do the same on Thursday.
After breakfast I met up with Nick and he said he was doing laundry but didn’t have enough for a full load. I had planned on doing my few pieces by hand, but I wound up throwing mine in with his and he paid for it. As we sat there I wrote on the post cards and he was so bored he ran down and put them in the mail box!!! When I get home and get my first pay check I am going to give him a gas card as a thank you for how sweet he is being!!! I think I’m going to send it through the mail too, if I hand it to him he won’t accept it. He’s too sweet to accept such a gift. He’ll just say it’s not needed. But he’s being so good to me, I need to do something!!! (and no we are strictly friends!) After laundry we took another stroll through the park and came across a memorial to a victim of a racism/hate crime. The flags around the memorial told the story in a poem format in every major language on the planet!!! While I read the English version aloud and got goose-bumps up and down my body, a musician playing some wood-wind/ reed instrument walked up playing a tune that was happy and soothing. I like to thank the tune was called “Serenity”.
While Nick and I were walking I found a postcard on the ground. Its from a black pride shop in the main square. I kept it and have it in my back pocket. I also plopped down another €3.00 for postcards and postage. Mom, you are NOT TAKING THOSE POSTCARDS TO SCHOOL (unless they are wrapped in plastic)!!!!! I don’t want them any more ruined than they already are!!! I want those scrapbooked along with the one Pat sent of Heidelberg!!!! Speaking of Pat and Bernie- I wanted to say thank you for the Am Ex gift card. I finally used half of it. The way things worked out, I needed to get a hostel in Berlin for one night and the card paid for it nicely. I still have $26.00 left on it for an emergency. As for sending me money- DO NOT SEND ME MONEY!!! Save that money for my welcome home party!!!! The way I have this pictured in my brain it will cost ~$250.00. When I get off that plane I want to be greeted with some Leibniz Butterkeks, Buskins tea cookies, a can of Skyline chilli, Vodka and a “sex on the beach” cocktail mix, some new $140.00 Nike Shocks (that are a bright red and a clean white size 7) (my shoes are shot and have been shot for over a month!!), and a welcome home dinner at Mecklenberg Gardens with a $4.00 pretzel with cheese that I can’t afford here. Mom, you had better make a Black Forest cake from scratch!!! Better yet- get Charlie or aunt Brenda to do it!! I want it gigantic, rich and flawless!!!
Also, Mom could you talk to Macy’s for me and see if they’ll put me on the schedule starting the week of the 14th? Thanks. Tell them if I need to fill out some paper work to be rehired or something, I’ll be in on the 12th bright and early!! Don’t worry about transportation. I walk down to the bus stop and ride on down. Don’t give me that load of “its too far”!!! It’s no where near as far or as dangerous as what I walk here!! Plus, with my new shoes, it will feel like “I am walking on a cloud”!!! Sorry, just a little Amsterdam humor.
Let’s face it, right now I reek of weed!!! It can’t be helped!!! That’s just the sent of this city!! Every time the wind blows you get a whiff of it!! I haven’t stopped cough since we got here, because of the 2nd hand smoke!!! I hate to admit it, but I have gotten just a little bit buzzed just by walking down the street!!! Plus, the guys didn’t tell me where we were walking to after dinner and I wasn’t paying attention either. We walked straight into the Blue Dolphin Café. Yeah, guess why… But I figure they needed a nice “pick me up”. We walked to the main Heineken Brewery down the street to take the grand tour, only to find it’s closed for renovation/expansion until October. The guys were livid/ bummed!! They really did need something to mellow them out. Now it’s time for bed especially if I am going to be up early to put my plan into action!!!