bleary eyed

hi everyone...here is my first blog, written last night at midnight...it's now 7:09 pm and i will write another blog about today's adventures soon...but first read this!

----
hello all,

just a quick update composed in notepad at 11:47 pm Netherlands time on Saturday, July 1, marking 33 hours since I've last slept in a bed (or really slept at all, since i can never fall asleep on planes!!) we're in notepad because there is no wireless internet at my residence, which is the international student housing unit at Prins Hendrikkade 189...tomorrow i have to set out and try to find an ethernet cable, as well as a laundry list of basic necessities that the apartments were left without. they are really, really gross (not like CU family housing gross, but legitimately gross) but are in a fantastic location and do the trick for providing a roof and a shower. my apartment is a little two-floor unit, with one room on the first floor, as well as the (small, industrial and scary) kitchen, and the bathroom, which has a drain in the floor, no shower curtain and no toilet paper provided...my room is down a really cool little spiral staircase that is so steep it almost resembles a spiral ladder--i have a little storage area, and a pretty big room outfitted with a bed, a chair, a desk, wardrobe, and a lamp. I've met several of the other SI students so far: Carmen, Steffani, Jenny, Matt, Beth, and Rachel, as well as my "roommate" upstairs, who has an Indian name I haven't heard correctly yet. Carmen and I never managed to find each other at the airport...today was probably one of the busiest travel days of the year, and it was INSANE at the airport, but i liked it a lot (despite not finding Carmen and trying to search for her for three hours!) A big group of Dutch college-aged guys were in the arrivals area waiting for their friends and they were singing Dutch folk songs really loudly and holding a big printed sign with pictures of their friends on it. I love how campy the Dutch seem to be so far...they seem eager to make conversation, wisecracks, and respond happily when asked questions in English. I have learned how to say thank you in Dutch, which seems to be appreciated! Anyway, the flight over here was pretty bad, but felt surprisingly short. I had changed my seat to a "window seat" with a Delta rep and my seat ended up being one of those at the beginning of coach that doesn't have a seat in front of it, but instead has a wall type thing...and no window next to me! The screen in front of us was out of service, so we didn't get to see any movies or tv, and we were right next to the flight attendant area, so it was impossible to fall asleep. On the bright side, I sat next to a friendly guy from the states that recently moved to Amsterdam, and we talked randomly for almost three hours, which helped a lot. After I waited in the airport for several hours looking for Carmen, I managed to find another student, Steffani, who landed later than I did. We hit it off right away and had a series of sitcom-like moments while she tried to wheel her 100+ pounds of luggage without a cart (literally--she is staying in Amsterdam for a year) and I searched for the train to Centraal Station in Amsterdam. The rest of the day we spent wandering around the building and meeting with the other students in the courtyard, then wandering around the city for the evening together. Matt is a grad student from Portland, and already a great
sarcastic buddy to hang around with. Steff is hilarious and up for anything, Jenny is a really friendly, enthusiastic hippie-type who refuses to take pictures at all, instead opting to sketch everything she sees...Beth and Rachel are both PhD students, but are around 30 and really nice to hang around with, and Carmen is an incredibly sweet Spanish girl that we are all working on breaking the language barrier with! Everyone seems really cool so far--we walked around a lot, found some falafel, several beers and a "coffeeshop," and meandered through the surreal red light district and a few central squares in the medieval part of the city. Amsterdam is beautiful--canals and leafy trees everywhere--but also seems really dirty, with a lot of trash scattered around the city streets, and seemingly the entire population with a cigarette in its collective mouth. So far I love it, but I am anxious to get my bearings, find a grocery store, find my ethernet cable and meet all of the other students that are arriving soon. Amsterdam is crazy and a little intense, but so far isn't intimidating--it doesn't feel particularly unsafe, and is extremely easy to walk and cover tons of ground in fewer steps than you'd think. I'm finally crashing, so I better sink into a glorious sleep...I love and miss you all, and I hope I will have a phone REALLY soon so I can call home, as well as a better sense of where I can go for coffee and wi-fi so I can send consistent updates. More soon...ALL MY LOVE!!! xoxoxo, -L