My Clog! What? What the Eff is a Blog? ..oh. MY Blog!

The Islands

2008-08-26T07:25:00.003+02:00

I'm going to keep this post short (and not because "someone" accused me of making my posts too lengthy). I'll keep it short because
a) I am wasting precious beach time and I have less than a week left in this paradise; and
b) Aside from hanging out on beaches, having drinks on the beach watching the sun setting, exploring beautiful islands, dancing on the beach at night and generally relaxing, I don't have much else to write.

We are (sadly) nearing the end of this amazing trip. In the last few weeks we've been island hopping in the South of Thailand and they've all been nice in their own way ...they all had a beach, so really what more could you ask?

Wait, now! Don't be jealous, I also attended SCHOOL! I am now certified open water diver and after a gruelling course, went to 16 meters below the surface. Needless to say, my brother Joe was right, it is another world underwater and I loved it.

So that's all for now. As I said, precious beach time is being wasted!

2008-08-11T06:38:00.009+02:00

Once again, I've neglected my blog and now must post an incredibly lengthy account that no one (except Hannah...and Hannah's mom) will likely read--but here goes anyway!

Angor What!?

Well Melanie finally joined Reena and I in Siem Reap (4 days in 7 airports later), site of Angkor Wat, one of the largest religious sites in the world . There are dozens of temples, some dating back to the 12th century, scattered around a large compound. They are breathtaking to say the least and with the help of our friendly Tuk Tuk driver, How, we were able to see alot. Unfortunately, Angkor Wat also seemed cursed for us. The first day after seeing some temples, we spotted some monkeys. Exhibit A:

Cute little guy, isn't he? Too bad he made me the victim of a vicious rabid attack. OK, well technically there was no attack and I'm not certain he had rabies, but I was injured and he was involved. See this little guy got greedy with the bananas How was trying to feed to a mother monkey. He got mad, screeched a high pitch noise and bore his teeth. Naturally, this scared Melanie and I half to death (Reena was far far away of course...). Fearing for my life, I attempted to flee and avoid an earlier than planned trip to Bangkok for a rabies vaccination...unfortunatly, I was standing next to a hill. So I fell and scraped myself good and proper on my elbow, hand and knee. That ended day 1, as we had to return to the hotel to clean the clay dirt out of my wounds...

Day 2 started with us almost missing sunrise at the main temple of Angkor Wat, luckily for us, there was no real sunrise because overcast skies didn't allow for it. Our luck continued with Reena losing her camera, me being bribed by a tourist police, and rain at sunset. All in all it was still a great day though! It is beautiful and it is very easy to get trigger happy as you can see:

Bangkok
So after Siem Reap, we took the most bumpy road you can possibly imagine to the Thai border. As you cross the Thai border, you are immediately struck by INFRASTRUCTURE--I actually forgot governments made roads and traffic lights while traveling in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Well perhaps that's an exaggeration, but there is a noticeable difference...
Anyway, on the bus, Reena recognized a guy from Toronto, who, as it turns out is meeting up with one of his friends in Bangkok, who in turn is very good friends with one of my highschool buddies, Jay Skukowski...very small world. So we spent our first evening in Bangkok with Nithal and Dan, who showed us the ropes of drinking "buckets" in the backpacker district of Koa Sahn Road.

Bangkok is actually a nice city. We spent a few days walking around, shopping, seeing some wats...

...and forgetting to wear long sleeve shirts and having to wear these instead:

Reena, of course, was highly amused by this. We parted ways with Reena on that day... not because she laughed at us but because she was leaving to go back to Toronto. Mel and I headed to the north of Thailand for a trek.

Chiang Mai

So there are two things most people do in Thailand. Firstly, the islands. Secondly, they do a trek in the north. So we decided to spend one day in Chiang Mai, going to the various markets before heading out into the mountains. Oh and Mel and I are now Thai cooking geniuses after a cooking course...

Anyway, I severely underestimated the difficulty of the trek. It was incredibly difficult, we hiked up mountains, through forests, jungles, fields of rice paddies...but, in the end I'm glad we did it. We stayed the two nights in villages, in bamboo tents and taught two Englishmen and a German (fond of wearing speedos whilst trekking--don't ask) the joy of euchre.

And now for the islands! We leave in mere hours for 3 weeks of beach bliss...life is grand. Hannah and I will soon be reunited after a brief stint of travel apart as well.

I have "Laos" to tell you...

2008-07-28T07:19:00.007+02:00

Bad pun, agreed, but not entirely inaccurate either. Now in Cambodia after a relaxing 10 days in Laos. Don't get me wrong though, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, but it was a completely different experience than the rush of Vietnam.

As I mentioned in my last post, we arrived in Luang Prabang on July 17th. Luckily for Hannah, we had lucked out and booked one of our nicest accommodations thus far..I say luckily because the poor girl was ill after eating at a veggie restaurant in Hanoi the night before--see meat is the way to go. We ended up having dinner with the English couple, Oli and Cassie, that we met on our tour of Halong Bay. I am jealous, they had been traveling for 10 months all over the world and were headed to India next on the last leg of their trip.

Anyway, Hannah was ill because she ate healthy vegetables, it is the only reasonable explanation. I'm sticking to street vendors for the rest of the trip...mostly. Despite her fragile state, we all managed to visit our share of wats, or buddhist monasteries. The young buddhist monks in orange are a frequent sight throughout Loas as apparently it is fairly common for most men to spend at least a few months as a monk. The wats were impressive and like churches in Europe, everywhere you turn your head. We also visited a cave where people have been coming for centuries to pray and make offerings of buddhas.

After deciding to linger in Luang Prabang a day longer than planned, we boarded a "mini-bus" (which apparently is code for mini-van with extra row of seats and no leg room to compensate)and headed north to Vang Vieng. The drive was stunning through the mountains but you could see where parts of the road had been washed out days before from landslides resulting from heavy rain.

We arrived in Vang Vieng in mid afternoon and tried to take in the strangeness of this place. It literally feels like it is in the middle of no-where, along the Nam Song River. Its claim to fame along the backpacking route is a river tubing ride, "happy shakes" and Friends. Specifically, I mean literally the only thing people do here is consume various opium-laced fruit shakes and float down the river in an inner tube and finish off the day by going to one of the many restaurants set up with pillows and cushions, grab a seat and watch hours upon hours of Friends' episodes. Not to worry though, you have three reasonable and prudent young ladies traveling...ok, well Reena and Hannah are reasonable and prudent and they seem to mimic my mother's look of concern (i.e., the look of death) sufficiently enough to quash any potential for tom-foolery on my part. We did however indulge in a drug-free evening of Friends watching--seemed like the thing to do. Reena and I really enjoyed it, Hannah seemed disinterested with the six episodes we watched and was much more concerned with the possibility that the green curry she had for dinner was laced with narcotics (see below)...Not surprisingly, it was not.

Here is a picture of the river:

River tubing sober may have been a go except the town had shut it down. Rumour has it that some inebriated travelers lost their lives the week before. It is likely that they were completely off their heads and they decided floating down a very fast river was a great idea. The town people really didn't talk about it so its difficult to know if there was any truth to it or they were merely being pre-cautious because of the high water conditions. However, given the lack of regulations of any sort here, I doubt that was the case. It seems that most anything goes around here, so best to use your own common sense. Nevertheless, our day was kind of wasted, so we upgraded to a hotel with a pool and spent the day there...not a bad deal either.

After Vang Vieng, we took a bus to Vientiane, the Capital of Loas. This was the most chill city I've ever been to...VERY RELAXED. We spent a few days seeing the sights, including the Arc de Triomphe, which we thought was quite lovely.

Apparently the Laos disagreed, calling it a "monster of concrete"....

It is funny how much our mindset has changed since Vietnam. We have adopted a much more laissez-faire attitude to this trip, well perhaps I should say I have adopted this attitude--Hannah, God bless her, tries, but the need to schedule SOME things persists...

We arrived in Cambodia on the 26th and met with Hannah's friend Emily. We were planning on taking a trip to Kampot in the south before meeting up with Melanie back in Phnom Penh but Sunday was election day and consequently most things were not running, including the buses. This forced day of being grounded in the city with next to nothing open did not deter Hannah, who still managed to find a market for us to see. We then discovered---a SHOPPING MALL. Strange as it may have been, because it was so western, it was good to see it because it was not directed towards tourists at all, so you didn't feel like you were being forced fed some type of culture, rather you saw how your own culture has been forced fed here. Could have been a mall in any north american city, where teenagers hung out, greasy mall food abound but surprisingly, you could still barter on prices...The mall, not surprisingly, also had a movie theater and so we spend a few hours watching a Cambodian produced film (luckily with English subtitles) called "The Last Letter". Interesting way to spend the day. Anyway, Hannah and Emily have escaped to Kampot while Reena and I stayed in Phnom Pehn to await Mel's arrival tomorrow morning...

Sapa, Halong Bay and Laos

2008-07-18T10:25:00.004+02:00

So much to write! We've been hopping around here like fruitflies on a rotting lychee fruit!

Our trip to Sapa was amazing. While Sapa is not yet the most touristy of places, it has definitely become a budding industry in the region. You can tell because hotels continue to pop up everywhere trying to take advantage of the killer view of mountains and mist. As soon as you arrive at your hotel you have a group of young girls from the H'mong people swarming you. They are rather cute, they ask you your name, your age, where you're from, whether you have any brothers or sisters, etc. You are immediately struck by how these young ones have learned to speak fluent English solely from their exposure to foreigners in this isolated area of the country. But you also quickly realize, they've been doing this whole routine for some time now when they ask you sweetly "you buy something from me?" Fair enough.

We went trekking to this village inhabited by a local ethnic group called the Red Dzao, I thought we were lost on numerous occasions and feared that we would soon become dinner for the vultures which circled the skies...but no, we found our way. On our trek we did meet the loveliest young girl and her mother. They literally got dropped off on this isolated road where we were the only ones walking to try to sell us something. They gave us the same routine the H'mong girls tried and basically, they follow you until you do buy something. Given that we were on this road with no where else to go but the village where they lived, we started chatting with them on our way. The young girl had the nicest demeanor about her and spoke with such a soothing calm in her voice. She was 14 and she had finished school, not being able to pay to stay in longer. It was quite the reality check as sometimes you forget that these little girls who are harassing you to buy their two dollar souvenir would much rather be elsewhere. Anyway it was nice to get off the beaten track a bit and have a conversation with a local... Sapa was beautiful and one of highlights of our trip to Vietnam. We ended up back on the train from hell overnight to Hanoi only to jump on a bus heading to Halong Bay, a world heritage site.

Halong Bay was gorgeous and a popular destination for Vietnamese vacationers. There are huge limestone rocks which jut out of the blue green waters, really quite a site. You can imagine that these are the tops of a mountain range which have long since been flooded by the sea. We boarded a junk...that's right, the ship you sail in Halong Bay is called a "junk"--not the least bit concerning...anyway there are a ton of them in the bay so we were glad when the boat went to a more remote and isolated part of the area and the guide informed us that we could swim. Eagerly all of the 15 or so people on board took advantage of the only respite from the heat. What the guide didn't mention was that the area was infested with beloved jelly fishes! Almost everyone who took a dip ended up with at least one lovely stingin' rash to remember the bay by...including Hannah and Reena. They were not impressed as you can imagine. Anyway, I also kayaked (with virtually no instruction as to how in fact you kayak) through some bat infested caves before returning to the boat. But hey mom, don't worry, no rabies!

We spent the night on an island, with about 15 other people at a resort in beach huts...I know life is tough for the backpacker I tell you...I am fairly certain that there was mouse poop all over our bed when we woke up though if that is of any comfort to those of you wishing me ill at this moment. The next day we spent the night on the boat, which was pleasant, albeit cockroach infested. I also (perhaps stupidly) jumped off the top deck of the junk into the water below with some English travelers on the boat--so much fun! No worries, I have no broken bones and I still managed to escape the jellyfish...

After Halong Bay, we stayed one more night in Hanoi and then took a flight to Laos, where we currently are parked for a few days. Luang Prabang, also a UNESCO world heritage city, is very peaceful and runs at its own slow pace. Its been raining since we've arrived so we've passed the time sitting in cafes, visiting Buddhist monasteries and getting $4 Lao Massages...again life is tough for the backpackers here.

We're headed south in a few days, so I'll update you on that soon...from what I hear the buses in Laos can be as pleasant as the trains to Sapa!

A few pics from Sapa

Catching Up: Vietnam thus far.

2008-07-12T12:38:00.005+02:00

Since I've decided to update this thing so late in the game (I've been traveling since June 30th), here are some highlights of my trip. Be forewarned this will be a long one but I will do my best to exercise brevity in my posts hereon. For those of you who don't know, I'm traveling with Hannah, whom you might remember from such posts as "Gay Paris" in December '06, and Reena, otherwise known as Renal Failure, but I'm the only person who calls her that and I actually know her from law school. Both formidable companions for this journey and to add some fun to the mix, I only introduced them once before we met up in Vietnam! Some might consider taking two strangers on a trip with you to be a risky move, but as you all know, I live on the edge. All kidding aside, we're all getting along very well. I suspect they will one day band against me in mutiny, but we'll see.

Anyway, back to the trip. We started in Ho Chi Minh City, more commonly (and formerly) referred to as Saigon. It was an insane place to start our travels. Here we learned very quickly that traffic laws are non-existent. You are likely to get hit by one of the city's million or so "motos" at any given moment. There are virtually no traffic lights and where there are, well they are blatantly ignored. People don't signal, they just honk. When you cross the street, don't expect anyone to stop. Just dogde traffic and hope for the best. Looking both ways is useless as people drive on whatever side of the street they like. Don't let the traffic light fool you in this picture either:

Here is one where we suffered a torrential downpour

Since HCMC, I've learned these same anti-rules apply all over this country. We also learned the importance of carrying some rain gear with you at all times after being drenched by a sudden downpour of monsoon proportions. Saigon is busy busy busy, so on our second night in, I managed to convince the girls that a massage would be a nice treat. The institute for the blind does hour long body massages for a mere $3USD. Sound questionable? Hannah and Reena thought so. Yet, in a moment of weakness, they agreed to give it a go. Rest assured, it was a lovely massage and Reena wanted to go back again. Best $3 I've ever spent.

From Saigon, we took a tour of the Mekong Delta and did a homestay with a local family. Met some cool people and experienced the floating markets. Interesting to see, but not sure I would recommend a trip there for anybody planning a visit.

We then headed north to Hoi An, a beautiful little town which is now a world heritage site. The thing to do in Hoi An is get clothes made by the gazillion tailors who line the streets. Hoi An's a bit more chill and was a welcome break from the insanity of Saigon. Although we didn't go, Hoi An is near the famous China Beach.

Next on our itinerary was Hanoi, in the north. Another bustling city. We tried to go and see Ho Chi Minh (now deceased communist leader/national hero)'s embalmed corpse (what's with the commies freezing their leaders?!) but unfortunately for us Fro-Ho was out of commission. Hanoi was very European in some areas, with wide tree lined boulevards.

Note the look of sheer joy on Hannah's face. She was as excited as I was to see Fro Ho in the flesh, despite the 35 degree temperature.

From Hanoi, we wanted to go to Sapa, which is in the North-Western part of the country, but when we went to the train station to book our overnight tickets for the 10 hour journey the following day, the train was sold out of sleepers. Our only option was to go for a "soft seat" and begrudgingly we agreed to do it. In retrospect, this was a mistake. I thought trains like that only existed in movies and in the slums of Mumbai or something. Apparently they thrive in Vietnam as well, where the communist version of luxury is questionable. Words cannot really describe the atmosphere or reality of this train ride. A "soft seat" consisted of a hard seat in a train with people sitting in the aisles and sleeping in doorways, windows covered in chains, people bringing full on trees with them, yelling, smells, I could go on but suffice to say we arrived safely after a very long night.
Hannah is putting on a very brave face here, I don't think the picture really does the filth of the train justice but it gives you an idea!

Luckily Sapa is so beautiful it is worth it. It is a mountainous region and the views are beautiful and breathtaking. There are local tribes here as well and as soon as you leave the hotel, the women swarm you by the dozens trying to sell you stuff--worse than when I was in Morocco, but they seem to be generally good natured. We went for a trek today to one of the local villages. I made Reena and Hannah take a motobike back---took some arm twisting with Reena, who ironically in the end loved it and didn't want to get off. It was a great way to experience the vastness of this countryside.

The internet connections here are weak so I'm not sure if I'll post pictures until later but I'm hesitant to do that regardless because I am a mess here. Humidity is insane and I am instantly hot and sweaty as soon as I step outside. This makes for lovely pictures. Until next time..

Good Morning Vietnam!

2008-07-10T05:42:00.002+02:00

I'm useless at writing on this thing unless I'm traveling and feel the need to update friends and family as to my well-being, without resorting to the despised mass group email. Ironically I will have to send said mass email regardless so you all know I am writing on this bloody thing again. Anyway, briefly, I am alive and in Vietnam, traveling for two months. It has been an insane trip so far and I will keep you updated as to my whereabouts! Next post will be a long one, so please feel free to ignore :)

An ode to "The Office"

2007-02-13T02:20:00.000+01:00

I am a huge fan of the Office and one of my favourite characters is Creed, so please enjoy some of his moments here. Although I have to admit, his most classic performance appears during the first episode of Season 3. He is effing hilarious.

Ok, I'm actually considering continuing with my blogging, although I am definitely not in need of another tool of procrastination....that never stopped me before.

Back to reality...

2007-01-12T20:56:00.000+01:00

I've decided to write after my nearly one month hiatus and not for any particularly good reason either (you'll be glad to know). So I arrived safely in Canada just in time for Christmas with family, minus my two brothers and their significant others, who arrived post-25th. It was a pretty chill few weeks involving a great deal of eating, drinking and watching season one of "Dexter." I mean what better way to spend your holidays than with a glass of alcohol infused egg nog, a box of chocolate and a serial killer with a moral purpose? There is none. New Years was also equally uneventful, but I suppose that's because in large part I just accepted that fact rather than try to go to some party and be disappointed about the most overated night of the year.
So I'm back at school and not much has changed. The toilets in the women's washrooms are now automatic and there are still about four more toilet bowls situated outside the lawschool waiting installations...I could go on for paragraphs about how telling that image could be but I'll probably save it for the Oyez, the satirical magazine I write for. Truthfully, it has been a strange re-adjustment. It was really nice to see all my law school peeps, I did miss them and it seems like everyone is intent on spending the last four months of our law school careers in a fun, if not memorable, way.
I had the "honour" of hearing the Hon. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Beverly MacLachlin speak this past Wednesday. Her speech dealt with the importance of an independent bench and bar and was rather uninspiring to be perfectly honest. The Q and A session that followed was slightly more interesting, when she was given the opportunity to speak candidly. Unfortunately for her, some people chose to ignore the fact that she is unable to comment on political issues, given her position and insisted on asking her politically related questions anyway. She was however asked (on numerous occassions) what barriers she faced as a woman in the profession. She basically said, she'd had it more or less easy in that respect and encouraged young women entering the profession to see these types of things as challenges and persevere. Good to know, considering in a short six months, I will be working in a profession characterized by the "old boys club."
Anyway, I miss Amsterdam and my life there but I am intent on making the best of it here....starting with finishing the paper I have left over from last semester (some things never change).

Hope you're all well.
Bye now :)

Amsterdam: Bye Now

2006-12-21T18:13:00.000+01:00

I'm thinking about chaining myself to a tree...and not because I've become some weirdo hippie environmental activist ...no it is simply because I leave Amsterdam in less than 48 hours. I am actually really sad about it--I've had an amazing time in this city and traveling these last few months. I just don't want to return to Windsor and get caught up in the dull monotony that is my everyday life there, but I suppose on some level that's inevitable. I probably sound like such a spoiled brat right now, but sincerely I feel very fortunate to have had the experiences I have here. I am also looking forward to seeing all my family and friends..not to mention Alfie, the only dog I know who can defy death repeatedly by consuming hoards of chocate, and Owen, my fat cat who loves only me. That said, I will miss the people I have met here and I hope that we actually keep in touch. I hope you all have a lovely holiday....I guess I should figure out if I should continue with this blogging now that I'm going to be home. We'll see....
Happy Christmas and Merry New Year

Chenquieh!

2006-12-14T11:36:00.000+01:00

That is the extent of my polish language skills...shocking I know (Michelle I am a disgrace). Sharon, Becca and I travelled to Krakow this past weekend and had a great time. Our plane was delayed a few hours arriving so we missed most of Friday's daylight, but we made do and found some perogies stat--Becca had never tried them and she has been converted to the world of potato dumplings-can't pack more carbs into that if you tried. Krakow is a beautiful city and the main square is very quaint especially with the Christmas market in the full swing. We basically wandered the first night and had a nice polish dinner. On Saturday, we explored the Jewish quarter (unfortunately, the synagogues were closed because of shabat) and toured a few churches and cathedrals. Sunday we took a tour of Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau--it was incredible to see these death camps and imagine the suffering that took place; what a profoundly sad reminder of what we as humans are capable of. We headed back to Amsterdam with less than two weeks left before we head back to Canada and regretably most of it will be spent studying. I'm looking forward to seeing the family but very sad to be leaving. It has been an amazing few months.

Gay Paris!

2006-12-06T16:31:00.000+01:00

Emma, Hannah, Sharon and I just spent five lovely days in Paris, truly a world class city. We managed to get most of the tourist sites in but I personally would have loved some extra time to wander through the streets. Almost everywhere we went was picturesque (with the exception of our stroll through the ghetto--for future references the Stalingrad Metro Stop--not so nice). Despite being warned about the French's sense of politeness, I was pleasantly surprised with the lukewarm reception we received-better than I expected! Of course, one particular "gentleman" (and I use that term loosely) was somewhat more friendly when he exposed his backside to us in the Metro...but that was more of an unpleasant memory we'd rather all just block from our minds....
Anyway, it was a culture filled weekend and quite a change from my Morocco trip, which consisted mostly of wandering around markets and little back alleys. The food was also really good, although in retrospect, maybe eating sushi twice on our trip was excessive, I guess we've been in withdrawal since living in an almost sushi-less Amsterdam. We also went to the strangest club, Mix Club, to see our favourite dutch DJ Fedde le Grand spin. I have to say, the resident DJ Didier Sinclair was amazing and played the best music I've ever heard in a club. Also, every single person in that club was a phenomenal dancer...it was really weird, I guess I'm just so accustomed to most North American boys having no rhythm...? So we had an amazing time in Paris and I look forward to going back, definetly not the kind of city truly appreciate in such a short amount of time-but there was just no way of knowing. ;) Next stop and final trip: Krakow, Poland before exam madness descends upon me once again. Hope you're all doing well.

New Family: Julia!!!

2006-11-28T15:13:00.000+01:00

Although I was a little disappointed to be leaving Morocco, I was also very pleased that I would be spending the weekend in London with my cousin Sara, her husband Danilo, their new daughter Julia and my mom. It was a short trip but well worth it. Julia is an angel and absolutely adorable--almost makes me want to have kids :) Although I am no where as good with the wee ones as my mom, who with five kids worth have experience, has nicknamed herself "the baby whisperer." It was lovely to see the family again and I hope they make good on their promise for a visit in May.

Catching Up: Morocco

2006-11-28T12:32:00.000+01:00

Sharon and I have just returned from our holiday in Morocco and I wish I was thesaurus but I can find no other way to describe it but AMAZING. It was my first venture out of western civilization and despite it being in North Africa with a lot of middle eastern/islamic influence, I think Morocco's somewhat progressive society was a good "gateway" if you will. Anyway, we leave for Paris tomorrow and I want to write as much as I can remember about Morocco now before it slips my mind--so be prepared this will be a long post. :) Or you can skip all the writing and go directly to my pics, most of which are at the end of my postas I'm sure that's what interests people most.

We started our travels to Marrakesh via London Luton airport on a Tuesday night, with the intention of staying the night in the airport as our flight to Morocco wasn't until 6:55 a.m. I knew Luton was a smaller airport but I didn't expect everything to shut down at 11 p.m., 10 minutes after we arrived....so we slept on the cold tile floor in our sleeping bags. That was fun-sort of.

Anyway our flight to Marrakesh went quickly and we were greeted with sunny skies--I almost forgot what that looked like. We headed to our riad in the old city, only accessible by foot down some random alley ways. I was here we were first made aware of Moroccan "friendliness" with many a "Bonjour les filles!" and "vous etes tres belles!" greetings coming our way. Our riad, Hotel Sherazade, was beautiful and very authentically Moroccan. Most of the buildings have open courtyards in the middle of buildings with either a lemon or orange tree growing in the middle and terraces on the roof. We left our luggage in our rooms and headed out for the main square. We were greeted by snake charmers, story tellers and women randomly grabbing your hands to apply henna for a ridiculous price...as Sharon soon found out. The sights and smells of the souqs were unreal but I have to say for all the spices we saw in the markets, we certainly didn't taste them in our food. Basically all the restaurants served the same three things: tajine (a stew type dish), couscous and brochettes (kabobs), but all of them seemed toned down in flavour for tourists, bordering on bland. We asked a few Moroccans "where can we get good, authentic Moroccan food?" and they all repled the same thing: "my house."

That was probably the most notable thing about Moroccan culture: everyone we met was extremely warm and friendly. I have never been in a society where people had such an easy going attitude and openness about them. We were constantly being invited for "berber whiskey" otherwise known as mint tea by people we met, where we would talk about eachother's cultures and interests. It really was heartwarming and I realized that my previous concerns about two young girls traveling alone in a muslim country were not well-founded.

After a few days in Marrakesh, we signed up for a Saharan expedition. This basically entailed getting in a range rover with a guide and four other people and driving for two days, but it was a great way to see Moroccan landscape when we were tight for time. Luckily we also had a really great group of people traveling with us, Lilian and Adam from Poland, Suzuki from Japan (whom I affectionately call Kawasaki) and our token australian traveller, Marc. They were all really lovely. The first day was spent driving through the High Atlas Mountains, where Mohammed our driver, would occasionally pull over for breathtaking views. We also stopped to visit a few kasbahs including Aït Benhaddou which was the setting for many films, including "Gladiator." We rounded up our trip with a stay in the Dades Valley Gorge which was very impressive. The next day we made our way to Merzouga, stopping along the way at various locations. We also visited a nomad brother and sister, who run a woman's co-op making rugs. We had tea with them and the brother (Mohammed again), told us about the various symbollism the women use in making the rug. Each rug tells a story and a few of us bought one to remember our time with them--and because they were beautiful of course. We arrived at the gateway to the Sahara at dusk and took a camel ride through the sand dunes to our campsite for the night. Unfortunately our pictures didn't turn out so well and they certainly do not do the view justice. The colours were phenomenal and even though I knew we were there, looking out over the sand dunes at sunset seemed as though it was a post card--unreal. We settled in our campsite and had the best tajine of the whole trip. Then our two guides (you guessed it) Mohammed and Hassan played some traditional Berber music and then taught Sharon and I how to play the Bongo drums. Mohammed spoke 9 languages, all self-taught, by virtue of his contact with tourists. So impressive...

Although it was dark already we decided to hike up the dunes to look at the stars...they were deceptively high. I thought it would be a short jaunt up the hill but 45 mins later at the top I thought I would have a heart attack. The stars were beautiful so we decided to cuddle up under blankets and sleep the night outside the tent--why not, I doubt I'll ever get to sleep in the Saharan desert again. The next day we headed back in the morning to our car but rather than return with the group to Marrakesh, we headed south to Fez. Fez is one of the oldest midieval cities in the world and its gorgeous! Its built kind of going down into a valley, Sharon said it reminded her a lot of Jerusalem. The next day we took a guide through the medina as it's extremely confusing with 9000 small streets/alleys in it. The guide wasn't that great, he basically took us to all his friend's shops and we had no self-control and shopped anyway knowing we were likely getting ripped off.

We returned to Marrakesh via train and met a bunch of really nice people, all exchanging email addresses and invitations for us to stay with them next time we were in Fez. I cannot say enough how nice the people were in Morocco, men and women, we were constantly greeted with smiles and openness. I think that will be what will stick with me most about this country.

Mosquitoes On Crack

2006-11-12T22:32:00.000+01:00

I have recently been bitten (again) by a mosquito. It was a few nights ago and I could hear the little bugger in my ear and I hoped if I hid under the covers, I would wake up unscathed. Unfortunately, that is never the case. I woke up with three bites. Normally, this would not be a big deal. However, the mosquitoes in Holland must be on steroids because these three mosquito bites developed into golf ball lumps on my hands. It was brutal, at one point I was worried my arm would have to be amputated at my elbow, but thanks to a few doses of anti-histimine, most of the swelling and burning itch has subsided. The point of this story is well...I'm not entirely sure. But my mom yelled at me to have anti-histimines on me at all times and after this occurence, I'd say that's some sage advice.

Yet another eventful weekend in Amsterdam is almost over, except this will be my last one here for quite some time. On Tuesday Sharon and I will be flying to London Luton airport, where we will spend a glorious eight hours, only to be eventually whisked away to sunny Marrakesh, Morocco!!! I'm starting to get very excited about the trip, but also a little nervous given that I will pretty much spend the next month or so travelling...although I'm supposed to fit school in at some point or another.

Anyway, we went to a few different clubs/lounges this weekend, somehow riding our bikes in the freezing rain to get there no longer deters us. Last night a bunch of us went to Club 11 (on Nov. 11-how apt)--its a very cool club set a little bit outside the city centre so you get a really nice view of Amsterdam as its on, you guessed it, the eleventh floor of a building. It was nice because it was separated into two sections so it had a huge dance floor in one room and more of a lounge in the other--this was key as the music, which I enjoyed, is admittedly an acquired taste, particularly for dancing. So it was nice that we could all hang out for a few hours before the electronic music lovers hit the dance floor and the others went home.

We have attempted to get some work done during the day time but I'm not going to lie, some things never change and my ability to procrastinate is one of them. Although, in my defense, today's shopping expedition was a worthy excuse. Mostly because I needed to go to the pharmacy to stock up on travel drugs, ie, immodium. Of course there was no immodium on the shelf so I had a lovely time trying to explain what I was looking for to (possibly) the only person under the of 40 in Holland who does not speak english. She got it eventually and in broken English exclaimed loudly "OH YOU WANT DIARRHEA PILLS." Right.

Ok so I'm out for the next two weeks in Morocco and then a short stint in London to meet my cousin Sara's new daughter Julia. I hope everyone is safe and happy. Take care.

P oxox

To Do: Everything (check) Make a New To Do List (check)

2006-11-06T23:57:00.000+01:00

So in my infinite wisdom I have realized that I have about two months left in the Netherlands, approximately one of which will be spent travelling in Morocco, England, France and Poland. This is not good. I have anxiety. There is too much to see and do and less time to do it. So what do I do (other than use the word "do" excessively)-- What every rationale human being overwhelmed by what needs to be done does--a TO DO list. I have discovered I have tremendous ability to make lists, endless lists with the most minute of tasks and this brings me great comfort. At the end of the day, there are only two check marks on my page to signify accomplishment, but I don't let it bother me that much as I can always take comfort in making a new list the next day. I have procrastination down to an art. Thankfully, Sharon, who is not nearly the procrastinator I am, has joined me in my to do listing and she actually gets the "do" done, so to speak. So we have made a "To Do" list for things to do in Amsterdam while we still have the chance. This past week we were quite productive-we managed to check a few things off our list: the Albert Cuyp Market and Jordaan Market (cute but all markets look the same at this point...cheese, more cheese and pickled herring), the Portuguese Synagogue and the Hague.

We ventured to the Hague last Wednesday with our roomate Paola.

As three eager law students we were anxious to go visit the International Court of Justice but the scheduled tours were cancelled that day, so we admired from afar. Actually Paola wanted a job, so she begged at the gate, but to no avail. Where's the justice in that? We also were privileged to bear witness to the flame of international peace...and I promise that's not me trying to blow it out....thankfully these clever international lawyers have thought of it all and encased it in glass--if only they could be that practical about international law in world politics. (Sorry Paola, cheap shot). Anyway Den Haag, as it's known here, is a very cute town. We wandered around a bit and managed to visit both the Mauritshuis, with Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" and the Escher Museum entirely dedicated to the very cool graphic artist from the city.

Saturday night was also an interesting night. Every year Amsterdam museums have hosted "museumnacht" where all the different museums and galleries open their door to visitors at night. The number of venues have expanded and some have performances and other events, followed by afterparties at various clubs around the city. We went to a few, including the aquarium, planetarium and botanical gardens, which turned into a pseudo-club. The whole idea is a cool concept, its like a Halloween for adults, except instead of candy, you get culture!

While Saturday night was fun, Sunday was the highlight of my weekend. On Sunday night I bore witness to the comedic genius that is Sasha Baron Cohen as BORAT. While I was a little weary of this film, as I am anything like this that becomes main stream, I was not disappointed by any means. Granted, I think this film would have been much funnier to someone who had never seen Borat clips before, as some of the material was slightly recycled from previous shows, but, it was every bit offensive as I'd hoped and more. If you loathe political correctness and find amusement in childish things or ignorant people, this film is definitely worth watching.

Ok, I'm off to check write in blog off my to do list. Hope you're all well.

Happy Halloween

2006-10-31T23:35:00.000+01:00

Hope you are all enjoying halloween, not too many ghosts or goblins roaming these streets.

In any case, today my roomate Paola and I decided we would stop living illegally in A'dam and go and register our residency with immigration services. Granted, this seems a little pointless considering that I have already managed to spend half my time here with no problems, but I will be venturing to Morocco in two weeks, I didn't want to have any trouble coming back. So on the map, it seemed like the office was a good ways away, but we were up for a bit of a exercise and so decided against taking the tram there, despite our roomates' suggestions. This was not a good idea. Our "jaunt", lasted approximately one and half hours-against the wind, on highway roads, in the rain, in the sun, through construction sites. It was a wee bit difficult and reminescent of another bike ride from hell minus the sheep. Nevertheless we arrived and were pleased to find that there wasn't very much of a wait. When the government employee finally met with us, he informed us that we each had different procedures, given that I'll only be 3 months and Paola will be here til the end of the year. He tells me that he's imput me into the computer and that before I leave the country, "I MUST go to city hall to "de-register" myself-this is very important." "Oh, why, what happens if I don't?" I ask with concern. "Well, we just eventually take you out of the computer." Oh, so you mean that if I don't 4 hours out of my day to go to city hall and deregister, you'll do it anyway? Right-I'm all over that then. Seemed a little too easy for me. For Paola on the other hand this was not the case, although I really question the necessity of any of this paperwork as it appears there are no consequences for not doing it, Paola is informed she must make an appointment with another government office, in addition to registering. "right, is that in this building?" she asks. "Oh no!" (chuckle chuckle) "that's not even in the city-you have to take a train to get there." "Brilliant" she says and I laugh because this is one more example of how ridiculously bureaucratic this country is and unnecessarily so. It completely fits with my friend Becca's observation about the Dutch. She pointed out to me that while it appears on the surface that the Dutch are very liberal and laidback, given their lax drug and prostitution policies for example, it is not the case. They are regulators--every thing in this country is regulated to the -nth degree and there are millions of procedures for every facet of societal life, none of which are particularly co-ordinated towards efficiency and ease as they are in North America. This over-regulation slightly skews my perception of the Dutch as laid back and easy going liberals.

Anyway, last Friday we spent the day walking through an area of Amsterdam called the Jordaan. It is the cutest area, with tons of little cafes and neat little shops built along the canal. It really makes you wonder why anyone would come to this city for its Red Light District and Dam Square. I've begun to realize that I enjoy less and less even the idea of a "touristy" place. The thought of someone coming to Amsterdam and associating it with the grimy, dirty, people-infested streets of the red light district instead of this: is beyond me. Later that night we tried an indian restaurant, which was weak to say the least. For all its ups, the restaurants haven't been one of the memorable things about this city. With the exception of FEBO. What is FEBO you ask? Well, I'll tell-it's vending machine food but not just any vending machine-FRESH vending food. I know its so hard for me to actually fathom getting a sandwhich from a machine that does't taste like cardboard but the Dutch have mastered it. They serve all these different things, like croquettes, which are amazing and dangerous. Saturday, I spent the day biking around and running errands, got lost, but in a good way...fun to find a new neighbourhood. Saturday night, the resident assistant gave the nod for a "red light district" themed party for the houses, which seemed like a well chosen theme given that our window frames are painted bright red. Thankfully, while the decorations tried their best to be authentic, the party goers did not take the theme too far. Sunday, spent the day biking around and well, enjoyed a Sunday, nice to live a life of normalcy on occassion....not for long though, Morocco is in two weeks, followed by London, Paris and Krakow. Hope everyone is doing well. xxP

FINISHED!

2006-10-27T11:02:00.000+02:00

I finished my exams yesterday and so this weekend can only involve fun and exclusively fun (wait, those are both the same things, aren't they?). Anyway, point is I slept in today and I'm heading out for a little exploration of the city's known and lesser known parts. I'll post some pics later. Hope you're all doing well.
xx

Texel Island and Library Basements

2006-10-16T23:47:00.000+02:00

Well shock of all shocks, horrors of all horrors, I've actually been studying the last week or so...it's rather miserable frankly. The reality that I'm here to study has caught up to me rather quickly and I have found my new favourite study spot in the basement of the law building. I also have a new appreciation for the Canadian legal system and its comparatively simple procedure. The EU legal system is insane-seriously, it's as though a bunch of people sat around a boardroom one day and thought-what's the most ridiculous, non-sensical way of implementing some random, not to mention useless EC provision --(fill in blank)---let's do that and call it direct effect! Ugh..Enough about that.

Anyway, since I last checked in, I have also ventured to the northern island of Texel. It was nice to see the Dutch countryside AND I even got to play with some baby goats!!! The other highlight was the 3 hour bikeride through the island, which has since been engrained in my memory as the "ride of death" (evidenced by the photo on left of people literally collapsing when it was over). It was basically like biking across the prairies which, granted on a calm day would be quite pleasant, unfortunatley, on this particular day, the wind was blowing-HARD. It was as though six people were hanging on to your back tire while you tried to cycle. It was painful--but I'm sure I can attribute some random life lesson/cliche to that endeavor so not all is lost.
In between secluding myself for study marathons and frolicking with small furry beasts, I have been enjoying the city. I went to a club on Saturday night called PANAMA and saw my new favourte dj, FEDDE LE GRAND. Although he didn't come on until late, he was amazing! My feet still hurt from dancing and luckily he is a resident in Amsterdam, so I'm sure I will have another chance to see him before I have to return home.
I missed Canadian thanksgiving, so I hope you all had a nice turkey day. I lack an oven or I would have organized my own feast to share with the neighbours. Instead I had salad with chickpeas. Anyway, exams are over on the 26th, so I'm sure I'll return with more regular and entertaining posts then (I know, what could possibly be more entertaining than baby goats?)

An Amsterdammin' Good Weekend

2006-10-02T00:22:00.000+02:00

I am very very excited...Sharon and I have officially booked a 10 day trip to Morocco!!! We'll be leaving for North Africa on November 14th and we'll land in Marrakesh. We have no idea what we are going to do there but I'll be picking up a Lonely Planet tomorrow to solve that problem. I'm sure it will be fan-fricken-tastic though...speaking of which, so was my weekend. I stayed in Amsterdam and had a few really great nights. On Thursday night, Sharon, Paola and I went out to find a dancefloor, luckily in this city, that's not too difficult. We started off at this really cool lounge kind of bar, where the dj was spinning some really good house. Unfortunately there was no dance floor so we decided to check out the club next door, Escape. While (bregudgingly) waiting in line, we looked around and noticed that everyone looked about 17 years old. We knew it was student night, we just didn't expect that to include pre-school. In any event, we old-timers decided to venture to a venue that was more age appropriate. We ended up at Rain. The club was gorgeous, very modern with an asian kind of decor, very zen. There were orchids all over the place, which I love. Anyway, the dj booth consisted of these kind of lit pods right on the dance floor. The music was amazing, the dj was spinning good housebeats and he was accompanied by this saxophone player who was randomly interjecting a very jazzy rhythm. The club closed at 2 though, so we didn't have that much of a chance to dance, so we made up for it on Saturday night. We decided to return to Escape, given that it was not a "student" night and it was a good decision-there is really good music everywhere in this city, I can't get over it!

Anyway, our apartment has been packed this weekend, Paola's mother is visiting from England, Elisa's best friend from Berlin is here until Tuesday and Sharon's friend, Zaki, whom she met while traveling in Thailand last year, was also here for two days. Its hard to remember to study amid all this craziness of planning trips and living in Amsterdam...

A few people complained that they cannot comment on my blog without signing up for an account. I think I've resolved this by allowing anonymous comments, so comment away--I know some of you must be very anxious to scold me for my debaucherous lifestyle as of late and now you can.

"Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark"

2006-09-25T20:40:00.000+02:00

Life’s tough—I’ll say. I’m so tired! “Why is that, Paloma? Have you been spending too much time in coffee shops?” No, no, I’m tired because I just spent four days in Denmark, with a brief stint in Sweden (besides, you cannot spend “too much time” in coffee shops!...kidding mamma ☺). Anyway, back to this business about my weekend…so Sharon, Katie (“the australian”) and I ventured north this weekend to see all Scandinavia had to offer, well at least Copenhagen anyway. The title of my post is actually very misleading because KÖBENHAVEN was a really beautiful city, although a lot more cosmopolitan than I expected. After dropping off our stuff at our hostel, we made our way to this church that has a very high spire you can hike up for the most amazing view of the city and the harbour. I have to say I really love the idea of these wind turbines in the middle of the water…functional without being a scar on the landscape. We pretty well spent the rest of first day just wandering through the streets, taking in the view, you know the usual the old and new architecture and the people, or more specifically the men. They were very attractive, nay, GORGEOUS, BEAUTIFUL, BREATHTAKING. I have never seen so many beautiful specimens—they were everywhere, I think I may strained my neck trying to take them in all at once, it was almost ridiculous how attractive everyone was. But, who am I to complain?

The next day we visited “Christiana” a hippy commune literally in the middle of the city. Apparently a group of our peace lovin’-pot smoking-long haired-stickin’ it to the man-friends started squatting on this piece of land about 35 years ago and the government decided to let them stay as a “social experiment.” Initially, the police weren’t allowed into the area and it was all “free love man” but eventually that stopped and according to the habitants have been a thorn in their side ever since. They even have a billboard with a running tally of the police visits for that day and the cumulative total since 2003 when they started counting. It was a really strange and wonderful place to visit, although I wasn’t allowed to really take pictures of the main area, affectionately called “Pusher Street.”
It’s a self-contained unit, you don’t even feel like you’re in a city, you enter and there are shanty houses everywhere, people partying, smoking, drinking, random animals running around. Then you stroll around a bit and come to these huge river and its so gorgeous…reminded me a bit of Thunder Bay actually. One of the locals we spoke to said that “the right wing government” was trying to shut them down even though they pay taxes now…taxes equivalent to 200 Euros for each inhabitant of the area per year. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal for prime real estate in one of the most expensive cities in the world, but hey man, leave the hippies alone! Besides, this “social experiment” is quite a cultural anomaly in the west and maybe we can learn something about community values from our long-haired friends…did I just write that?!...living in liberal Amsterdam must be getting to me…

Anyway, that night, we met up with David, a friend of Katie’s who lives nearby and we went out for dinner and to a café/club…cool music, chill atmosphere. The next day we set off for Sweden, I mean we were half an hour away, why not? We spent the day visiting Lund, a cute university town, and Malmo, albeit most of the time there was spent on the beach just snoozing.
You can see Copenhagen in the distance in this photo. We also searched everywhere for meatballs and came to the realization that this is an IKEA myth…we endured more than one strange look from locals when we asked where you can get “meatballs” so we finally gave up. Our last day we headed to Elsinore to visit the setting of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (ironically we did catch a glimpse of the famous brooder roaming the fields near the castle). Here are the secret passage ways under the castle.

So I have to say, despite being so pleased with the opportunities I have to travel over here, I love coming home to Amsterdam. I’m also a little weary of leaving the city every weekend, there is so much to see and do here, I’m worried that if I spend too much time abroad I won’t really appreciate what it is to “live” in this city. We are staying in Amsterdam this weekend and next weekend we’ll head to Texel Island, north of Holland for a few days. Other than that, things are good. I can’t believe I’ll be home in less than three months…Hope everyone is doing well. Keep the emails coming, I really love hearing from everyone.

Officially a Member of the Quarter Century Club

2006-09-19T12:30:00.000+02:00

In case you didn't believe my previous post...note the stiletto. This is my bike "White Lightning."

First things first, I wanted to send out a big THANK YOU for all my birthday greetings, whether via phone, text message, email or regular mail. I can't tell you how nice it is to have received all of your messages when I'm so far from home, so thank you very much- very much appreciated. Secondly, I have to also say thanks to everyone in Amsterdam who made my 25th so special-I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate.

We started out an indian restaurant in an area known as "De Pijp." Then I was whisked away to a surprise location....although, in this photo I look a bit like a prisoner at Guantanamo, I was very pleased to discover that I was escorted to a canal where we were all going to have our own private boat tour. Thanks especially to Sharon and Dunny for organizing this--it was amazing! Amsterdam at night is beautiful.

A night out in A'dam: Heels on Wheels

2006-09-17T12:25:00.000+02:00

So a few of us went out last night for my upcoming birthday (thanks for a great night Paola, Emma, Hannah, Crystal, Dunny and for ALMOST showing up Frank, Andrew and Jordan!). In any event, a night out in Amsterdam is a slightly different experience. So Paola (my roomate) and I headed out at about 10:30. Normally, I would jump on a subway, car or cab--not in Amsterdam, here you get on your bike. That's right, Paloma and Paola in 3 inch stilletos jumped on their bikes and headed to other side of the city to meet up at Frank's place. So we're biking along, trying to see signs through poorly lit streets, not entirely sure where the hell we're going and all of a sudden I hear a terrible crash. Thinking the stillettos had taking vengeance on my roomate, I turned around to see a fountain of beer showering Paola. Well I may be exagerating slightly, but her feet got wet because the bag of beer we were bringing to Frank's got caught in her spokes. One bottle shattered and another one was still spraying beer because it was stuck in her wheel. A bit of a dilemma...before she managed to unwedge the bottle, we had to endure many a dirty look for the shattered glass on the path from the dutch cyclists riding by. We finally arrived at Frank's before deciding to once again jump on our cycles, this time all 9 of us, to venture once again to the other side of the city to go to the club. Half way there, we're stopped by the police who inform us that this is a pedestrian area only. WHAT? I thought bikes ruled the streets here! At this point, half of us split up and each went in different directions before finally meeting up at the club, minus Frank, Andrew and Jordan who "mysteriously" disappeared...possibly into a coffeeshop along the way. So the remaining went to a club called Sugar Factory and danced for the next few hours before (that's right) jumping back on our bikes to go home. Funnily, we were talking about how convenient it is to not have to find your way home, via cab or otherwise, at the end of the night and about how necessary a bike is in Amsterdam when upon arrival home, my other roomate Elisa, informed us that her bike had been stolen from outside our door. Terrible! Bike thefts are very frequent here, junkies steal them and sell them for 10-15 euros. I hope no one steals my bike "white lightning" --I can't afford to buy another one (unless of course I decide to buy one off a junkie...). Anyway, I had a great time last night and look forward to my next excursion.

A few more pics from Belgium

2006-09-16T10:59:00.000+02:00

Royal Palace-Brussels, Belgium
Palais de Justice, European Court of Justice-Brussels, Belgium
Street in the Sablon Neighbourhood-Brussels, Belgium
Canal-Bruge, Belgium
Palais de Justice-Antwerp, Belgium

And so it begins....

2006-09-15T13:57:00.000+02:00

I've decided to heed my brother's advice (for once) and avoid mass emails. In lieu, a blog, filled with whatever verbal diarrhea I decide to post and you decide to read at your leisure. Truthfully, I will attempt to document my travels or experiences here in the dam---but you all know how good I am at sharing feelings, so don't expect too much. I welcome comments or emails.

With that said, its already been two weeks, so I have a bit of catching up to do.

So initial impressions: I arrived on the morning of August 29th, 2006 to rainy weather and overcast skies. I expected this much, so I was only slightly bothered when this pleasant weather continued for the next ten days. Thankfully, the charm of this city is not dependent on the weather. In fact, it's a bit like visiting London, something about the grey days adds character to the buildings. I don't think much could detract from the quaint houses that line the canals here-it really is charming. The Dutch have been so far among the nicest, most down-to-earth people I have met; always willing to go out of their way to help you out or explain something to you, like for example, what meat I was buying in the supermarket today (let's just say it wasn't beef as I had presumed).

The first few weeks were busy getting settled in and participating in the International Student Network orientation activities. I'm living with Sharon (my schoolmate from home) and two other international students. Elisa, hails from Berlin and speaks better English than I do, and Paola is an attorney from London, who (I think) may share my sarcastic sense of humour (love those brits!). We all get on really well and I'm sure that will be helpful in the months to come, should homesickness develop (unlikely but possible). Oh and we get BBC1, so I have officially starting watching Eastenders again. Woo Hoo!

Classes have begun, although technically I'm not registered in any because somehow the administration at the universiteit van Amsterdam faculty of law managed to forget or something.... Seriously, here's the culture shock: the school's adminstration staff office hours are 4 per week-- Tuesday and Thursday 10-12. If you have class during that time-tough luck. Nobody likes to respond to emails either, so it should prove interesting. When I realized that I wasn't registered in any of the classes I was supposed to be registered in, I approached the international student co-ordinator. This woman is a character and she's exactly the way I pictured her. She's probably in her mid-40s but looks like she's smoked the last 35 of her years on this earth, kind of dishevelled blond hair and smeared lipstick. She wears some funky glasses but is still the most frazzled person you've ever seen. Apparently, I wasn't the only one thrilled with her organizational skills but she reassured everyone in the same way, whatever the problem- "don't worry, it will all work out." Let's hope that is the case.

So, leaving school aside, Sharon and I went on our first weekend trip to Belgium last weekend. We hastily organized our travels to Brussels, Bruge and Antwerp when classes were suddenly cancelled on Thursday and we realized we had a four day weekend. Belgium was beautiful. Brussels was a gorgeous city and we managed to finally find "Mannequin Pis" by the end of our day in the city. Its the most disgracefully amusing statue I've ever seen. We also had the a really nice meal with Jean-Pierre, a director of documentaries from France, and Nick, the token Australian backpacker from our hostel. (Incidentally James, I swear this french guy could have been your brother...or well mine too I guess.) I also, proudly, enjoyed my first Belgian been and I say enjoyed because I have yet to do that in any other country. Next we headed to Bruge, a beautiful little town but FAR too touristy and expensive. Apparently, there was some military parade and Prince Philip was there, although we didn't see him (too busy getting ripped off). For all its charm, we were anxious to head to our next destination-Antwerp. Unfortunately when we arrived, we realized my hostel-booking skills were not so stellar and I landed us right in a ghetto. But, as I say, you don't come to Europe to sit in a hotel room, so off we went to explore the city. The funny thing is that neither Sharon, nor I had really done very much research on our impromptu destinations, so we didn't really know what there was to do anywhere. Once in the downtown, I realized that our hostel location was not representative of this city's atmosphere. I ended up really liking Antwerp, it was a hip city but still with the old buildings and beautiful squares. We wandered around the city, saw a few interesting museums and took in the sites before returning back to Amsterdam.

Coming back to Amsterdam on the train really felt like coming home, despite the fact that we've only been here two weeks. The city has a certain comfort to it and its easy to get used to, even though I am (still) constantly losing myself in its winding streets or "straats" (hey, I'm picking up some Dutch!). Anyway, we've decided to stay here this weekend and enjoy the nightlife A'dam has to offer. We've booked our tickets to Copenhagen for next weekend. Should be good. I promise not to make my next post, so bloody long. I'm boring myself. I hope everyone is well.