The weather has been excellent this weekend, high 70's to high 80's. Apparently that barely happens in The Netherlands in July, much less April. So how could we not take advantage of it? Saturday I spent the morning in Leiden. I went to the Museum of Ethnology, since all the museums in Holland were free this weekend. They had an exhibit on food and drink in different cultures, really cool, but mostly in Dutch. I had a great lunch in one of the squares, then took the train to Den Haag, then the tram to Scheveningen (I figured out how to spell it but still can't pronounce it). Scheveningen is the beach, sort of like Myrtle Beach. There is a boardwalk and restaurants and bars and casinos. I had been there once before, at night in January. It was cold, windy, and empty. Saturday was different. It was alive, people lounging, tanning, swimming, flying kites, playing volleyball, having picnics. I met friends, who all brought friends, until we had a group of about 20 of us, most from IHE, some of the regular MSc group, but also some short course participants, and some guys from TU-Delft. It was really nice to meet some people from outside IHE, but there was not one Dutch among us. We confused one waitress with our mini United Nations. It got a bit overcast in the evening, but it was nice to spend the day outside.
The weather was even better on Sunday. I started the morning at church. Yep, church. I was invited to a memorial for the Rwandan genocide. I believe I was invited because I'm a Jew, and happened to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. It was a nice service. The Rwandan ambassador spoke, but it was the same speech as he gave on Friday night at IHE. The program on Friday night at IHE was much better. At church it was just a service and a speech, but at school we heard a survivor talk as well and saw a movie and had more discussions. Surprisingly, though the theme was "Never Again", nothing was mentioned about what is currently happening in Darfur, though there was some criticism that the West had ignored Rwanda when the genocide occurred. As with any event at IHE, the program ended with drinks at the bar. In church as well we had some beers in church at 11AM just behind the altar. Maybe it's a Dutch thing.
Sunday afternoon was more uplifting, Julia, Lobo, Elena and I went to the lake. We lounged in the sun, took a walk, got some ice cream, and did lots of people watching (though the nude beach was not much to look at) and saw some baby ducks. Then Julia, Elena, and I got some apple tart and iced tea at a little restaurant nearby. It was fantastic. Apparently the pear tart was better, but they were out. Then there I went to a BBQ. No mosquito bites, I think our disposable grill smoked them away. Eventually I made it home at around 10:30PM, about 8 hours after I started my leisurely Sunday afternoon. So what is the plan for next weekend?
The weather has been excellent this weekend, high 70's to high 80's. Apparently that barely happens in The Netherlands in July, much less April. So how could we not take advantage of it? Saturday I spent the morning in Leiden. I went to the Museum of Ethnology, since all the museums in Holland were free this weekend. They had an exhibit on food and drink in different cultures, really cool, but mostly in Dutch. I had a great lunch in one of the squares, then took the train to Den Haag, then the tram to Scheveningen (I figured out how to spell it but still can't pronounce it). Scheveningen is the beach, sort of like Myrtle Beach. There is a boardwalk and restaurants and bars and casinos. I had been there once before, at night in January. It was cold, windy, and empty. Saturday was different. It was alive, people lounging, tanning, swimming, flying kites, playing volleyball, having picnics. I met friends, who all brought friends, until we had a group of about 20 of us, most from IHE, some of the regular MSc group, but also some short course participants, and some guys from TU-Delft. It was really nice to meet some people from outside IHE, but there was not one Dutch among us. We confused one waitress with our mini United Nations. It got a bit overcast in the evening, but it was nice to spend the day outside.
The weather was even better on Sunday. I started the morning at church. Yep, church. I was invited to a memorial for the Rwandan genocide. I believe I was invited because I'm a Jew, and happened to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day. It was a nice service. The Rwandan ambassador spoke, but it was the same speech as he gave on Friday night at IHE. The program on Friday night at IHE was much better. At church it was just a service and a speech, but at school we heard a survivor talk as well and saw a movie and had more discussions. Surprisingly, though the theme was "Never Again", nothing was mentioned about what is currently happening in Darfur, though there was some criticism that the West had ignored Rwanda when the genocide occurred. As with any event at IHE, the program ended with drinks at the bar. In church as well we had some beers in church at 11AM just behind the altar. Maybe it's a Dutch thing.
Sunday afternoon was more uplifting, Julia, Lobo, Elena and I went to the lake. We lounged in the sun, took a walk, got some ice cream, and did lots of people watching (though the nude beach was not much to look at) and saw some baby ducks. Then Julia, Elena, and I got some apple tart and iced tea at a little restaurant nearby. It was fantastic. Apparently the pear tart was better, but they were out. Then there I went to a BBQ. No mosquito bites, I think our disposable grill smoked them away. Eventually I made it home at around 10:30PM, about 8 hours after I started my leisurely Sunday afternoon. So what is the plan for next weekend?
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