Update

I'm unconvinced that anybody is actually reading my ramblings on this blog, so I feel very unmotivated to keep this thing updated.

Life has become busier and more hectic:

School: I'm taking 4 classes (2 History, 2 Poli Sci). The school requires that students have a minimum of one presentation and two papers per class. Last week I burnt out because I had two papers and one presentation due within 48 hours of each other. I have another series of paper deadlines coming up.

Travel: I'm making sure that I'm making the most of my time here. Even when I can't travel abroad on the weekends, I at least try to see a new part of the Netherlands. Michelle and I have become travel buddies, and we've been on several adventures so far.

Haarlem: Quaint little town with old museums, almshouses, and a nice open market on Saturdays. I have now officially visited a windmill, although the tour was mainly in Dutch.

Brugge, Antwerp; Belgium : We made the horrible mistake of traveling during rush hour on Friday night. Unfortunately I have class until 6 pm, which limits my departure time until the Friday traffic. Brugges was very rustic, and medieval (I learned in class that Brugge was the capital of commerce back in 16th c.). We climbed the belfry, all 366 winding steps to the top. Of course there was Belgian chocolate (at a chocolate shop endorsed by Rick's Steve, and Belgian beer (a tour of a brewery, a taste of cherry beer), and crazy encounters with international youth at the hostel.

Kaastel de Haar : Little day trip to a castle in Utrecht on Valentine's Day. The castle was under construction, and the tour was only in Dutch, so we just walked around the castle grounds. Our museum card got us in for free. The most expensive part was the 2 buses it took to get there. But the grounds were really nice: deer park, tennis court, gardens, and a maze. We even saw a bride and groom in a limo on their way to the castle!
Valkenburg: A small town 10 minutes by train from Maastricht. I found this in my tour book (thanks Dad) and was intrigued by the Therma Spa 3000, but was disappointed to realize that I needed a reservation. Instead we checked out the Velvet Caves and the adjoing castle ruins. The Castles are man made and date back to the Roman Empire. American troops occupied the caves during WWII. Our tour was in Dutch, but we were given a written English translation. Maastricht: We went to this beautiful city to celebrate Carnaval. Some of the Californian kids studying in Maastricht were gracious enough to host the other Californians from Utrecht for the weekend. Carnaval is not celebrated in Utrecht because it does not have Catholic roots, only the Southern half of the country. It was a weekend of drinking, dancing, crazy costumes, and good old Catholic fun. Families and groups get together and make a float and dress in a crazy theme such as a color, hippies, oriental, and even Albert Heijn (Dutch grocery store) and participate in a parade through the city center. At night all the bars open and blast music on the streets. Everyone dances, sings, and drinks beer. Since everyone is dressed up (even babies and old people) you stand out more if you're not dressed up, have some face paint or Carnaval colors (red, yellow, green) on. The first day I found a silver dress with white feathers at the neckhole and skirt bottom for €4 and wore that to the night festivities. The second day I was a mime because I had a striped shirt on.


Up Coming Events: Spring Break in Turkey & Greece!

Goals for this week: Get off the school campus and visit friends at University Utrecht. Check out the Centraal Museum. Stop procrastinating!