Another Day

I stayed out most of the night last night.  Proost with Koos, and some new faces.  Pool.  Rock.

Today I laid in bed and read and just watched the outline of the branches of the trees against the cloudy sky.  

I'm feeling better than I have since arriving in this country.  I found out today I can keep my apartment for at least another month.  I'm going to Belgium this weekend.  More classes start next week.  Life is just good.

The Straight Story

Another day of translating.  The sun shone for a few minutes, and that was good.  Koos and I went to Janos' for a movie night.  It was a small group, only 6 of us.  We watched The Straight Story, which is a David Lynch movie, but not exactly typical.  It's really heartwarming, really funny, really good.  Robert, I thnk you would especially enjoy this film.

I'm backing up my iTunes.  So far I'm at 50 CDs.  I have a lot of music.  I'm going to buy an external hard drive soon, but I haven't had a chance to get one.

I suppose you've noticed I don't update the way I once did.  Not every day.  I just haven't felt much like writing.  Things are going really great.  I feel really good.  Life is going in good directions.  I just don't have any words recently.  They'll come back, I reckon.

Catching Up

Well, I haven't had too much opportunity to update in the past few days.  Life has been a little crazy, but in a great way.  Let's recap, shortly.  Tuesday night I went to Proost with Koos (South Africa) and we played pool with Carlos, and some other folks half the night.  The other half was spent drinking tea and listening to music at Hugo de Groot Straat.  

Since I didn't actually sleep Tuesday night, Wednesday was pretty much dedicated to doing that.  I feel like I probably got out of bed at some point, but I don't really remember what I might have done. :-)

Thursday I translated.  Friday was awesome.

Koos and Sangbreeta and I went to Amsterdam for dancing Friday night.  The dance was awesome, and afterwards everyone went over to George's (America) apartment for a late night blues party.  George's apartment is a dream.  It's in one of the tallest buildings in Amsterdam, and it's huge.  Hardwood floors.  Big windows that overlook the city, and the island.  Just gorgeous.  So everyone drank wine and danced and danced.  We were all exhausted, and my feet were killing me, but I just couldn't say no!  :-)  Around 5am, George drove Koos, Sangbreeta and me to the station and we came back to Leiden.  Which means I didn't hit a bed until 6:30 or so.  So, another night of no sleeping.

We were all supposed to go to Breda to celebrate the Carnival, but none of us made it.  The group met at 12:45, but since none of us got to sleep before 6:30, 12:45 seemed a bit early.  However, Koos and I went to the market around noon, and met up with Silvia who was in town visiting, and Janos.  So, we did the market.  Koos, who has lived here since September or October had NEVER been.  I ate kibbeling, which is little bits of fried fish.  At 4am I started craving kibbeling, and it was the first thing I wanted to eat when I woke up.  So, we got kibbeling and stroopwaffels, and went to the top of the V&D department store and watched the market.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the sun even had some warmth to it!

I had dinner with Koos, and took a 2 hour nap.  Then I met up with Silvia, Janos and Jason at an English pub in town, for drinks and conversation.  Then, back to bed.

My flat mate came in around 2am with some friends.  They weren't horribly loud, but it did wake me up, and then I got horribly confused because they were speaking a mixture of Arabic and Dutch, and it took me entirely too long to realize.  :-)

Today we had brunch over at Janos' (Silvia and Ilaria) and now I'm home, finally sort of rested, and trying to get some work done.  I'm also backing up all of my computer files, because my machine keeps making disturbing noises.  I don't want another computer to crash!

Next weekend I'm going to Belgium!

Day Trip to Heaven

Went to a stress management workshop this evening.   They hooked us up to some electronic dealio to measure our heart rates and suchlike.  They got us to close our eyes and breathe for 5-10 min. and they measured stuff.  The guy was telling us that a good average on one scale was 20%.  That was what most people feel when they breathe.  

They hooked me up to the machine, and I closed my eyes and breathed.  I was feeling pretty dang stressed, knowing that everyone in the room was watching me breathe.  But, I followed the guy's instructions to find a happy place.  The guy finally told me to open my eyes.  Everyone was looking at me funny.  I had gotten to 79% and was still rising when the guy stopped me.

"You were probably just in Heaven" he told me. 

I'm Huge in Holland

Today I had an adventure.  My friend, Sangbreeta (India) and I decided to go to a swing dancing happing in a small village just north of Amsterdam.  We met at the central station at 12:30 and began quite an epic journey.  A train to Amsterdam, a bus to the Middle of Nowhere (Middel of Nooweer) Holland that took an hour.  And the driver just dropped us off.  Middel of Nooweer, mind you.  Raining.  I had some basic directions: follow Julianaweg until it turns into Zuiddijk.  Easy.  Nope, we went the wrong way immediately.  Sangbreeta was convinced we were in the middle of a horror movie.

This was not helped much when we found the place and discovered it's some sort of ancient hotel that collects vintage toys, and other stuff.  A row of tin cars in the shape of pigs greeted us at the door.

But the dance went amazingly.  We arrived in time for the lessons, and the teacher immediately spotted me as an experienced lindy hopper.  I'm still not sure how.  When she found out I was American, she dragged me into the middle and proudly announced to the class that here was a real American Lindy Hopster all the way from America and she was going to help.  So I ended up being the teaching assistant for the rest of the class.  When the dancing finally started, the teacher came over to me and George (America) and said the band leader (live jazz!!!) wanted to see some good dancers and could we please do a little showcase for everyone.  So we danced for the whole place.  They filmed it.  It was horribly embarrassing, but of course I loved it!  And then we danced and danced.

Every time George and I danced after that, a little photographer was there taking pictures.  He finally came over and asked our names for the paper!  So, George and I are appearing in Monday's edition of whatever the paper is called in the village of Beemster!  :-D

After the dance, Sangbreeta, George, Carrie (US), Frank (Amsterdam), and Praveen (India) and I headed back to Amsterdam (Sangbreeta and I rode with Praveen, not the bus) for dinner.  Frank knew a nice spot, so we settled in to thick leather couches, and ate awesome almost Indian type food with lots of rice and wonderful orange sauces.  And just as we were all lying back to lounge, live, amazingly danceable jazz started up, so we all perked up.  The new or non-American dancers were a little freaked out by the idea of dancing in a restaurant, but Frank and I got out there, and everyone loved it.  The band freaked out, the people in the restaurant were pleased, and the restaurant staff didn't make us stop.  So, we spent the rest of the night switching partners and jamming out to the great live jazz.  The singer thanked us 4 or 5 times for dancing.  It doesn't happen much in Holland.

After the band left, we lounged on the couches, and just let life spill over us.  Orange walls, low lights, comfy couches, comfy couch mates, pillows and tea and that deep satisfied exhaustion in your bones.  :-)

Swing

I'm feeling good.  You know how love feels in those early days?  The first flush, where everything is new and fascinating and the best thing ever?  And you know how sometimes that fades, but things are still good?  And how sometimes it fades completely and the love is suddenly just gone?  This happened to me with swing dance.  I started doing swing 7 years ago, and it consumed every ounce of me.  All I wanted to do was dance.  I couldn't wait for Friday nights at Fairbanks, the first jazz club I ever danced in.  Meeting new people, sharing the moments and the music.  It set me on fire.  Then I settled into it, and calmed down, and worked and got good at it.  And then, slowly, that love faded and swing became a burden to me.  I got too good to dance with the fun dancers anymore, and instead danced with the super amazing dancers, who were all too interested in being super amazing dancers.  I felt judged.  I got bored.  Haven't danced in almost 2 years.

Until last night!  Went to Amsterdam to a swing dance even there, and it was like Fairbanks all over again (actually, it even sort of looked like Fairbanks...)  New people who were good, but didn't yet realize how good they could be, so they were just there to dance and have fun.  I didn't sit out a single song!  Can't remember the last time I went to a dance and danced every song!  So many interesting people, so many amazing dances, so many promising leads.  :-)  What a great night!

I'm going back for more tomorrow, too!  :-D

I love hearing trains passing by at night.  Makes me feel connected to the entire world.

O Frabjous Day!

I have internet again! Whoo! Ah, such things have happened since last I wrote. I shall recap.

Saturday night I picked up the key to my new place, and went to a party. Carlos (Venezuela) and Denny (Macedonia) arrived at the same time, so I told them about my new place. Denny just started laughing. Apparently, he lived in the exact same apartment not too long ago, he was just in another room. So, naturally, he's the first person I tell!

The party itself was pretty great. International dinner party. Everyone was a little worried there wouldn't be enough food for the 40 or people who showed. But we all ate ourselves into oblivion. My favorite? Lithuanian Lazy Cake! :-) I also met someone who says they can teach me some Afrikaans, which is just plain amazing. There's a South African student about named Koos, and I've somehow managed to never meet him. Grace told me to find him because he's also a dancer. Interesting person.

Sunday we were all supposed to go for a bike ride to the sea. But...it snowed! Major fluffy flakes, and icy blowy flakes. A mess, all day. Janos and I had a pretty great day though. He made the most amazing lunch of fish and rice, with shrimp appetizers. We lounged around productively, Janos working on his calculations, me working on Coptic. Then we watched Batman: The Dark Knight. (SO much hype over this movie, but it's great!)

Monday I sat in class all day, and then sat at the computer a little more. At 7:30 I went to an Art of Living, breathing can save your life workshop. It was certainly a good time. Lots of reminders that life is what you make it, and some fun games and exercises.

On the way home I found a playing card in the street. This is not unusual for me; I find a lot of them (this is the 3rd in the last month!) But this one. I flipped it over to reveal: the joker. This would normally not have been so intense, except that I had watched Batman the NIGHT BEFORE! Fuh-Freaky. When I got home I showed Janos, and he almost jumped out of his chair! haha

Today I woke up thinking I might die. My head was just pounding. I suppose it was probably the weather, which was atrocious. A great day for sleeping, which is mostly what I did. Freezing rain, sleet, hail, wind + windows and walls between me and them + warm comfy bed + pain killers = naps. When I woke up I worked on my Egyptian, and tried to be productive. Finally, the rain stopped long enough for me to move my stuff over to my new place. And the sun came out just long enough to set in a rather impressive burst of reds and purples outside my HUGE windows! :-)

I went to Movie Night. The movie was 3 Irons, and it was pretty great. Intensely odd, but great. Afterwards I realized I only had 30 min to get to the store to buy dinner, so I fled. However, I left my wallet at Janos' so I had to make a detour. This basically meant that I didn't make it in time and had to go to one of night markets. Which means, as my celebretory first meal I had ramen, doritos and peach flavored water. I feel so young. :-)

Moonlight No Longer Sleeping on a Midnight Lake

I have found a room! And it is perfect! It is exactly what I wanted to find. It's big, but not too big, and two of the walls are basically windows, and these windows, aside from bringing major amounts of light into the room, overlook not one, but two canals that run perpendicular to each other. There are only two other people in the flat (which is basically like having your own place in the Netherlands where students get squashed in 15 and 20 to a house!) and, check this bit of Universal foresight out, one of the roomies just finished his masters in, yes you guess it, Egyptology. I've actually seen him around the library quite a bit! How's that for interesting? Toeval bestaat niet (There are no accidents.)

The place is also super close to my faculty, and all sorts of other convenient things. The only trouble is it might only be available for a month. :-( It depends on whether the girl who is renting it to me finds an apartment in Amsterdam soon. So, please ask our dear Universe to help this girl, and me, out! :-) I believe it'll happen, for both our sakes!

In other news, yesterday was a great day. Class was nice, and I spent the day in the library translating Coptic magical texts and browsing through the archives of a great webcomic. I then had coffee with Jason at a really gezellig little cafe, and we chatted for a good long time. Jason is always a great person to go to for really great conversations. He's able to talk about Russian literature, life in Paris, Irish politics, relationships, or beer. And most things in between.

Afterwards, he went off to a Catena party, and I went to the Game Night. It was the 2nd year anniversary of the Common Room's opening, so we had cake. It was an amazingly crowded night, and I'd say 30 or so people showed up. I watched some kids play Settlers of Catan, and then chatted with Jan when he arrived. Then we all played Appels en Peren, which never seems to get old. Then we (and we = Andrei (Romania), Antoine (Switzerland, French speaking bit), Kia (Iran, as you know), Ying (China), Jan and me) went to the pool hall called The Church. It's called The Church because it used to be a church, so we all joked, of course, about going to church. We played darts and pool for the night, and had entirely too much fun. As usual.

I got home just about the time Janos arrived from his salsa night, and he wanted to work on a few moves, so we danced in his living room for a while. I think I miss this most about living with dancers, the late night/early morning "There's a move I want to try" moments. :-)

Today Janos and I went to the market and then I checked out the apartment, and life is good. For now, I'm going outside to play. It's entirely too beautiful to be indoors. Tomorrow, if the weather holds, which I hereby command that it do (does?) a bunch of us are going to take a bike ride to the sea! :-) I know, going to the beach in February in Northern Europe leaves something to be desired, but with the right combination of people (and I do believe we'll have that) and the variety of cafes and pancake houses in Katwijk, I think it will be a grand old time.

Dear Sun, Please shine on!

Piled Higher and Deeper

This comic has been keeping me from quitting school for a few years now.  It's called Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD for short) and though it's mostly about the trials of being a physics grad student, it's entirely too relevant to students in general.  

Yesterday I ran away.  This was my mother's advice, and I decided to take it.  Around noon I headed to the train station, picked a town at random, and went.  I chose Utrecht, for no reason other than I had never been there.  I had rather hoped the ride there would be longer, but it's less than an hour away.  I think I really wanted the train ride more than I wanted anything else.  I'm tired of being trapped inside, but it's just too cold for me outside.  So a train is a very nice compromise for the traveling lizard inside me.

Utrecht would probably be much cooler if I had a friend along, or if it weren't snowing, or if I hadn't already had 2 cups of coffee and wasn't hungry.  The problem with the Netherlands is every city has the exact same shops.  I've been to about 5 or 6 small towns in this place, and every single one of them has an H&M and Vroom and Dreesman, a Blokker, a Hema.  Where's the regional diversity, people?  

The coolest part of Utrech is this little "street" of restaurants by the canal.  Like, literally, beside, or, rather, sort of INSIDE the canal.  The canal opens up, and there are little restaurants snuggled into the canal wall.  Stairs lead down, and there's a narrow little sidewalk connecting them all.  Tres cool.  Perhaps I'll get a band together soon to explore these places.  They seemed gezellig.

There's also a really cool tower in Utrecht, but I'm afraid it might be magical.  It looks like a huge chess piece (rook, if you were wondering) but no matter how hard I tried to find it, I never could.  I'd see it rising above the rooftops, but as soon as I turned down a street that should have led me to it, it would vanish from sight.  Sigh.  Maybe Saturday would be a better day to go.  The signs (yep, I followed the signs and still couldn't find the magic tower!) said that there's a market there "'only on Saturday'" (this was written on the sign in quotes, thus the double quotations.)  

I sort of get the feeling that the Netherlands is just a bad place for magic, and that in each town the magic bits just huddle together in one spot to try to stay dry.  In Leiden it's the Burcht, in Utrecht, it's the Dancing Rook Tower, apparently.

Janos had a movie night last night and we watched "Mirror" which is a Russian film with no discernible plot.  It was very beautiful in parts, but mostly it was sort of depressing and dark, and there was a lot of snow (set in Russia) so it made me cold.  

There was an amazing part where a woman appeared suddenly, drinking tea, and just as suddenly vanished, tea and all.  She left behind a small ring of condensation on the table where her tea had been.  The camera watched the condensation vanish, and it was breathtaking.

After the movie (and discussions of things like how American space rockets are based on Roman horses, and a certain nude model and her complicated relationship with an artist and his apprentice) Andrei (Romania) and Gonzalo (Chile) and I went to Einstein.  I promptly lost the boys when I saw my ISN-R girls and Carlos.  Not that I wanted to lose the boys.  The girls were just around the corner, so I was just going to say hello.  But, crowded bars have distances of their own, so I got lost.  I found Andrei a bit later, and we hung out and life was pretty good.  

I was home by midnight.  I thought I heard voices all night, and can't decide if it was just the wind, the water in the pipes, or someone's television.  It could, of course, be the whispered voices that used to live in my closet, but I haven't heard them in years.  (Up until about 3 years ago, I would often hear voices whispering in my closet before I went to sleep.  For a few years there was even a man I would see if I left the closet door open.  This never actually scared me at all, and I even thought the man was probably watching over me.  I was often annoyed by the voices, because they whispered all night, and I couldn't sleep.  I found them to be rather rude.)

Lolpod: A man with long dredlocks dressed in a red body suit stopped in the middle of the shopping street.  He was also wearing a Darth Maul mask.  He started dancing.  Most people thought he was sort of strange.  I think he might just be insane, I've seen him around before.  But it made me smile.  :-)

Groundhog Day!

I do not like being without internet.  :-(  It's not that I miss the surfing, I just miss being in contact with my family!  E-mail is just not the same as Skype!

Oh well!  Today I woke up to the sound of children laughing, so even being homeless isn't so bad!

Today is Groundhog Day!

This is one of the strangest, and cutest American traditions around.  I love people!  In Pennsylvania, they apparently had sunshine, which means 6 more weeks of winter.  Jammer.  Here in Holland, naturally we had NO sunshine, so we get an early spring!  :-D

Today has been great so far.  I found out I was one of only two people to pass the Coptic exam!  Phew!  They're offering extra classes (Coptic 1.5!) before the make-up exam.  And I'm going even though I don't have to re-take the exam, because I'll be starting Coptic 2 come March, and I'd like to be really prepared.  For Coptic 1.5 we get to read magical texts, which is much more fun than the usual Biblical texts!

I also started Egyptian again today.  I've been put back into the beginner class, which is pretty perfect.  I only have Egyptian (and Coptic 1.5 once a week) until March, so I have tons of time to study and knock 'em all dead!

Mostly I've been dreaming about writing.  The worlds I've created keep growing, and recently two of them grew together!  I love when that happens.  Turns out my two main characters, Reina and Janie, who are from completely different books, have met!  They know each other!  Cool!  :-D

I've also been listening to Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.  I bought this to listen to on the plane to the Netherlands back in June. I listened to the first hour and was highly unimpressed.  It tried too hard, I thought, to be funny, and the jokes were dumb, and sort of obvious.  Last night I got bored, and decided to listen on.  And it gets so much better!  Absolutely hilarious!  Crazy stuff happening, miracles, Romans, angels, magic, demons, 8 Chinese concubines... it just doesn't stop!  :-)

1.Feb.2009: New Start

Well, according to Those Who Know About This Sort of Thing, Mercury is back where it should be and the crisis of the retrograde is over. Don't we all feel better?

Mercury knows I do. I've started over here. I'm floating around, I suppose, and I really hope I get a new apartment soon. I hate the idea of sleeping on someone's couch. I don't like invading their space, and I don't like having no space to myself. I'm very much in need of my own little burrow, even if I only sleep there, I need somewhere to be alone. But still, even with this bit of my life in the air, I at least know what city I'll be in come March (inshallah.)

I woke up this morning to light streaming in the window! Light! My old apartment had black curtains and it always looked like it was about 5am in the room. Even when I left the curtains open, my room was in a weird corner of the building, and it still looked like it was about 8am all day. But not here! Sunlight and birds and the windmill(!) are all visible out the window. There's even a school next door, so on weekdays you can watch the children playing outside. A brand new month, a brand new feeling.

I'm craving spring though. Today the wind is out of control. I had serious trouble climbing the tiny little hills we have here because the wind was blowing against me. It was also spitting snow there for a while. I just have to be patient, of course. Spring will come in its time. Brr.

May the gods of New Beginnings smile upon me now. May the gods of Awesome Apartments hear my prayers. May the gods of Reasonably Mild Februaries also lend me an ear. And may the gods of Unsecured Wireless Networks hook me up. :-)