the first post...

Hi everyone...this is where you can expect to find the semi-daily details of my trip to Amsterdam, which begins tomorrow (I'm leaving at 12:45 pm, and arriving in Amsterdam at 9:45 am Saturday morning) and ends on August 6th. I may not have internet access in my temporary apartment, but I hope to find a favorite little cafe with wi-fi that I can head to every day for a cappuccino and an update...

A little background: I'm attending the Summer Institute on Sexuality, Culture, and Society, which is a four-week intensive series of mini-courses all having something to do with the cross-cultural study of human sexuality. I applied in the hopes of throwing myself into a challenging academic environment that I hope will confirm my interest in building a career in that field. Amsterdam is possibly the most socially liberal and tolerant city in the world, which is great news for a bleeding-heart hippie like me... I'm still not sure what I want to do--study public health, law and public policy, sociology, clinical psychology...?? BUT I do think the Institute will help me to figure it out.

I'll be taking mini-classes like "Sexuality in the Political Culture of State and Nation-Building," "Sexuality and Human Rights" (<--- my most anticipated class!) and "Infinite Heterosexualities." The other students come from all over the world and many have gone through a LOT more schooling than I have so far...but there are some other younger students, including several from the US, that I am excited to meet. Well, that about wraps it up...check back often for more self-serving blogs in which I write extensively about myself! :) Tons of pictures to come!

All my love-- LV