I'm Too American for This Bank

I didn't go to class today.  I woke up at 7am, though, and got to work.  I went to the bank to open an account.  Made an appointment for 2pm.  I then spent the rest of the day running around town trying to figure out how to pay my rent with no bank account.  I biked across Leiden's center about 5 times.  But I got it settled, and I won't be sleeping on the street come August.  Though, I wasn't horribly worried since Yohann has apparently not paid his rent for, oh, 3 months.

When I went to the bank for my appointment, I ran into Susanne and Vanessa.  They both use the same bank I was visiting.  They were actually on their way to find me since I missed class.  They were on a mission to bring me "feel better" chocolate!  :-D  Such good friends are hard to come by, and I have two after just a few weeks!  I am truly blessed.  

However, I am also an American, which is apparently a problem.  The banks here can't actually take on American clients because of some weirdness with American banks.  I don't get it exactly, but I think American banks basically make it too complicated for the Dutch banks.  So, I couldn't get an account.  Bum.  There's only one bank in town that'll have me and my American self.  Le sigh. 

I didn't go there, however.  I went and sat on a boat-cafe with the girls and drank a cola and chatted.  Then we went shopping.  No one was really looking for anything to buy, we were just shopping.  The weather was very nice today, so I was feeling much better.  It's been so cold (mid-60s, in July) and rainy (EVERY FREAKIN DAY,) that I keep forgetting that it's supposed to be July.  Today was, well, not my idea of July, but warm and sunny anyway.  

I came home just in time for the sky to get cloudy again.  More rain.  But I didn't mind.  I watched old Bill Cosby skits, read some Rumi, watched Mosaic news of the Middle East, and listened to the Dutch news.  I then made a pretty rockin dinner of rice and curry and went to drink some champagne with Yohann and Katerina.

And now some words from Bill Cosby:

"You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it."

"There is hope for the future because God has a sense of humor and we are funny to God." 

"People can be more forgiving than you can imagine.  But you have to forgive yourself.  Let go of what's bitter and move on."