Globalism and Chocolate

Last week when Carlos and I were at the supermarket, I went looking for cocoa powder. Until then we hadn't found any that didn't have added sugar. Most cocoa here is made for drinking. Anyway, of the half dozen brands, only one was 100% cocoa. But it didn't look very good. It was almost a yellowish brown, close to the color of peanut butter, rather than a deep, well, chocolate color. So I didn't buy it.

Which leads to the question of where to get cocoa to bake with. I will be back in Chicago in a few weeks. And there I will buy some cocoa. My favorite brand is Droste, a Dutch brand. So, I will be buying cocoa, which was probably grown in Ecuador, processed in Holland, sold in United States, and flown back to Ecuador. Now what is wrong with this picture?

Day Off

Last week was a tough week for many of my friends, so we decided to get our of town yesterday. Just north of Amsterdam, about a half hour by bus, is the fishing/tourist town of Volendam. Elena, Carlitos, and I got there at about 1PM and wandered by the harbor, watching the sun shine on the IJsselmer and having a beer at a local bar. This bar was about 100m from the main tourist area, but a world away. It looked like a 1970's basement with wood paneled walls, crocheted curtains, and a pinball machine (actually, it sounds like I'm describing Hilary's basement now that I think of it, just like that but darker and will a bar).

After the beer we met Alejandro and Maria, who took a later train than us, and proceeded to our main activity of the day. The photo session. More specifically, the Dutch photo session. The photo below was entitled by Elena as "Primos Politicos Hollandse" (which can roughly be translated from Spanish and Dutch as "Dutch Cousin-in-Laws").


The scariest part of the photo is how Dutch I look. I mean, how Dutch we look. Ale looks a bit drunk already with his bottle of Bols, Carlitos is way too happy to have a basket of fish, Maria looks like she is about to throw the cheese at the photographer, Elena is jealous that I am holding the flowers and she got stuck with the accordion, and I just look Dutch.

After a lunch of fried fish, we wandered through the town again, drank some coffee in the sun, and watched the clouds by the sea. The day was beautiful and sunny, though a bit windy. As evening approached we took the bus back to Amsterdam, without much of a plan.

When we arrived in Amsterdam, I had the idea to go visit an art exhibit, but it was almost 7PM and already closed. So Plan B was to have a drink. There is a bar that a friend of Alejandro's had told us about six months ago. When my brother and I tried to find it, it was closed. When Alejandro and I looked for it a few weeks later, we arrived at last call. This time we made it in for a drink.

The bar is called Wynand Fockink (yes, you are allowed to laugh at the name) and has been distilling its own liquors since 1679. It's a tasting room too. So, the bartender, our "doctor" asked us our ailments and prescribed some tasty remedies that did not resemble cough syrup (except for the raspberry one). After filling the delicate shot glasses to the brim, the tradition is to slurp off the top before lifting your glass. I tried some rose liquor, as well as a combination of orange, vanilla, and bitter almond, while Elena had a lovely mix of lemon and ginger. Alejandro enjoyed the jenever (Dutch Gin), while Maria and Carlitos stuck to the fruit flavored liquors. It was a great experience, and a really fun end to our day off.

Recovery

Yesterday I competed in a half marathon. I ran 21.1k through Den Haag (The Hague) in 2 hours, 16 minutes, and 50 seconds. My time was in the range that I had thought and am quite proud. But, in hindsight I think I could have ran it a bit faster and without a few of the post run side effects if I had done a few things differently. To be blunt, there are some things I did not do right.

First of all, I only trained for a month prior to the race. I only ran one long run (16 km). Therefore, I only realized at about km 10 that there might be something wrong with my shoes. On both of my legs, the insides between mid calf and ankle really hurt. They had ached a bit on short runs but I thought it was due to the one incline on our normal route. Well, I don't think that is the cause anymore, because the race course was quite flat and my legs started hurting halfway through and became more painful with every step. I now blame the shoes. I ordered them online but they were the same make and model as a pair I had about a year ago, just a different color. Grrr.

Hmm, I guess that was two things. More training and better shoes. That is about all I would change. I am recovering now. My legs don't ache too much, I didn't get any blisters, but I did get a bit of chafing. It is in a really strange place that I never expected to have a problem...my lower back. I think it's from the tag of my underwear. I'm actually quite embarrassed to admit that. Anyway, my skin is almost raw, but the Neosporin is helping.

The race itself was lots of fun. As a veteran runner told us on the train over, the weather was perfect. No sun, but no wind or rain either at a balmy 15C (60F). A group of 9 of us from IHE ran and Carlitos was the official photographer and backpack holder. While the boys ran ahead, I ran the first half of the race with Lindsay. She left me half way through because I couldn't keep up due to my aching legs. The route was really nice and I appreciated all the people cheering and bands playing for us along the way ("Sweet Caroline" got me past km 8). We ran for about 2 km along the pier at Scheveningen, staring at the flat North Sea. I saw signs for water after km 16 and after some refreshment kept my eyes open for the km 17 sign. After a few minutes I was sure I had missed it and started looking for km 18. A short while later I saw it in the distance and in my mind was so relieved that I only had 3 km left. But as I approached I realized it was the km 19 sign! Only 2 km left, what a relief. The whole race was so psychological.

Being the last one of our group to finish I found my friends at the end and we decided to celebrate with the traditional form of recovery after any group sport, the third half (though in this case it was proper to call it the second half). After 21.1km we recovered with a beer (ok, I had two). When we finally got home I collapsed in my bed for the rest of the day and have spent today being lazy (though I have read a few papers for my thesis).

The race was fun and though just after the finish line I swore I would never do it again, I actually am now considering a marathon. But only with more training and better shoes.

Born to Run?

I seem to be taking on a running theme lately. Please note, I do not like to run. I do it because it is good for me and I like the social aspect. So, in about three weeks I will be running a half marathon in Den Haag. I'm not doing this because I love to run, but because I think it will be fun. I know my logic is not solid. The race is known as the City-Pier-City, because you start in town and run to Scheveningen and back. So I better start running...

Carnival

This year I spent carnival in Maastricht. Apparently, in the north of Holland are the reserved Protestants and in the south are the crazy Catholics. So if you want to celebrate carnival, you go south. We went as far south as one can get in Holland, to Maastricht, which is almost on both the Belgium and German borders. Being a Jew from the great white north (OK, I know that's more of a description of Canada than Chicago but with this weeks snow it can share the claim), I'm still getting used to this carnival thing. It's kind of a mix of Halloween and St. Patrick's Day.

Maastricht is two and a half hours away. So we left here early on Sunday morning (early being relative for a Sunday morning). We arrived in Maastricht around noon and headed straight to the center of town. Everyone was in costume. Everyone except for us. I had nice lei, and later on splurged on a wig, but it was too cold to wear anything but a down jacket, lined pants, and comfortable shoes.

There were two things about the Dutch carnival that surprised me (contrasts with last year in Venice). First, there were families in Maastricht. Most people were in groups of a dozen to 20 where everyone had matching costumes (Smurfs, the Chinese pingpong team, hippies, etc), but also there was just mom, dad, and kids all dressed alike. Considering my second observation, I really didn't expect carnival to be a family day. I don't recall seeing any children in Venice.

Now for the second observation. There was beer. Of course. But it was served in glasses. I guess the premise is that even when the Dutch drink, they are responsible enough not to throw the glasses on the ground (or at each other) but return them to the bar when they are done. At Duke when we had bonfires, the deans walked around handing out plastic cups, at Cubs games you get plastic cups, even at bars in the US you sometimes get plastic cups. But in Holland you get decent cheap beer from the tap in real glasses. And in the main square and on the streets we saw waiters walking around with trays to retrieve glasses that were left out. Usually the trays were almost empty.

We watched the parade in the afternoon and only stayed until dark, since none of us were really in the mood to stand outside drinking beer all night. The parade was nice, but very long and it didn't hold our attention for the hours that it went on. Except I really liked this troupe, the costumes were great, as was the music. For a moment I even believed that bikini and feather clad girls would suddenly samba on over. But they did not.



Maybe next year will be in Brazil. Or Cuenca.

The Visa Raj

I'm going to India during the winter holiday. One of my best friends from IHE, Bin, has returned home and I shall visit him. I need a visa for India. Apparently everyone needs a visa for India. I know this because I googled it. I also found the application online, as well as the address and list of fees. It should be easy. But, of course, it is not.

Giorgia came with me to Den Haag. She had some documents of Bin's that needed to be certified by the Dutch foreign office, as well as the Indian Embassy. We left Delft at 9AM. The foreign office was simple, very Dutch. An orderly line, a simple fee schedule, and done in 10 minutes. Then we walked to the Indian Embassy. Once we found it we followed the signs and arrow that read "Passports and Visas" to a small basement office. There, I was informed that, no, in fact they do not process visas there, but that had outsourced it! The Indians are outsourcing now. Anyway, the visa office was down the street, about a 10 minute walk. I left Giorgia at the embassy to get her documents stamped.

I went to the visa service office, took a number, and waited my turn. When I got to the desk and my application had been approved, I was informed that the fee would be €90! But the form says €50? Well, she explained, the normal fee is €50 for the visa, but for Americans it is €75, plus a €15 service fee. I asked why that was not noted, she replied that it was noted online. I disagreed, and said that the form online was the exact same form as in the office that showed both the wrong address and the wrong fee and that if the current information had been accessible online that I would have found it. What other explanation did I have for showing up at the visa office with only €85!

Yes, I was €5 short. I've been waiting on a tuition refund from the institute that is still yet to come and I did not take out extra cash besides the €50 that I had assumed the visa would cost. So I had to wait for Giorgia. She was having her own problems with the embassy, they needed document copies and the copy guy wanted to be paid above and beyond the €50 it was costing to get the documents stamped. She said some choice Italian words to him and got the copies made and met me at the visa office minutes before it closed for the morning. Once I paid, I was informed that I had to return at 4:30PM to pick up the visa.

So Giorgia and I spent the afternoon in a cafe. Well, I spent the afternoon there and Giorgia left for a short while to meet her professor at the train station. I have no idea why they decided to meet at the train station in Den Haag, but apparently it was a useful meeting. The afternoon was much more relaxing, Giorgia was able to pick up her documents from the embassy early and I was able to get my visa without anymore hassle. And we were back in Delft by about 5PM. Only 8 hours to get the visa.

Epilogue
I was lucky to get my visa so easily. A Brazilian friend waited all day in Den Haag then found out the misspelled her name in the visa and had to return the next day for the corrected copy. Her boyfriend didn't fare much better, since he will be going to India for a three day conference, plus two weeks of tourism, he was informed that he could not get a tourist visa, but needed a business visa, thus a letter of invitation. I was lucky.

Quick Dutch Lesson

Eight=acht. Night=nacht. Therefore, N8=n+acht=nacht=night.

Last Saturday was Museum N8 in Amsterdam. From 7PM to 2AM, 42 museums were open, each with special events. We had been to something similar in Budapest in June, but we only went to one museum there. This time, we made to about half a dozen, which was quite an accomplishment with a group of ten people.

We started at NEMO, the science museum. It was like being a kid again, playing with bubbles, lifting with levers, and refracting light. Next was the Stedelijk, the contemporary art museum that had an Andy Warhol exhibit going on. Then was a boat ride to Rembrandt's house (which I declined to enter since I had been there with the family the month before, I had a beer instead). The Hortus, the botanical gardens, was next. They had a Persian theme with belly dancers, mint tea, and dates. We walked past the aquarium, and after talking with the doormen, decided to go in (not quite the Shedd, but nice). Our final stop was the Tropenmuseum, aka museum of tropical cultures, where we danced until closing.

Hungry and tired we went for a drink, since we could not find a place with an open kitchen. Gabi, Alejandro, Carlitos and I left the bar at 2:30AM, waited until 3AM for the bus to central station. At the station we saw Julia, Ruben, and Gabriel, who we had left at the bar half an hour ago (the had taken a taxi, much smarter than us) and waited for the 3:42AM to Delft, which only arrived at 4AM, and got to Delft at 5AM. We were all asleep on the train. Great night.

Blame It on the Rain?

This morning we had a fieldtrip up north. We were supposed to meet at school at 8PM. I had spoken with the professor last Friday and assured her that I would manage our class, since she planned on meeting us at the treatment plant, a duty that usually falls to me since I am the class captain. Anyway, I guess I turned off my 7AM alarm instead of hitting snooze and woke up at 8:10AM in a panic. I called a classmate and asked them to hold the bus for me as I grabbed for my glasses and ran out the door. I raced to school in the pouring rain, arriving at 8:20AM wet, sweaty, out of breath, and without deodorant.

We were supposed to arrive at the plant at 9:30AM, but due to some traffic/rain/my tardiness, we only arrived at 11AM. The purpose of the fieldtrip was to see how urine separation systems were implemented in Holland. From what we saw, not very well. During the day we visited two waterboards (regional authorities), a wastewater treatment plant, and saw a lab scale urine treatment reactor, all very nice to see. But our lecturers seemed hypocritical. The premise is to separate urine because it is easier to treat an uncontaminated and undiluted polluted water source than one that is mixed. One lecturer spoke of urine can be treated and the nutrients used for fertilizer, but that is not done in The Netherlands because it is too expensive, there are too many specific agriculture rules, there may be hormones that cannot be removed, etc., all while he was trying to promote this for developing countries. He spoke of how their region is shutting down its smaller treatment plants to get the economy of scale, while our current course is on decentralized water treatment systems. I found most of what we learned today to be hypocritical and not really worth 600km on the bus (yes, we were on the bus for about 7 hours today).

As we returned to Delft at around 6:30PM. The sky was dark, gray with a sickly greenish tone. It had been sunny and hot up north, but as I rode to the shops the clouds were looming. I bought my groceries in record time and as I rode home I could feel the pressure dropping. As I approached the stop lights I prayed for them to change as I sprinted through the street with the gusting wind testing my balance. I felt the first drops as I fumbled for the keys to the bike shed and seconds after I entered I heard the whoosh of a downpour. Moments later it was over.

Apparently, this is what summer is like in Holland.

Regardless, the past few days have been really nice. There have been a lot of little things that have happened...

Visit
My family has booked their flights! Mom, Dad, and the Kid are coming in September. I'm very excited to show them my nice small town. Mom and Dad have been to Amsterdam and briefly Den Haag, but my brother hasn't been to Holland yet. I'm sure he's drooling at the thought of coffeeshops and red lights ;) They will only be here for five days, but I am really looking forward to their visit.

Julavender
Julia likes flowers. She really like lavender. She likes to pick it when she finds it. Yesterday, Julia, Marquinhos, and I went for a bike ride. Though it was raining in the morning, it had cleared up by midday, so we decided to explore the small towns near by. The signage in this country is excellent, so there was no need to plan a route, for where ever we went we were always able to see signs pointing back to Delft. We rested and changed direction as we pleased. I made us stop at a cemetery for a quick walk. In one neighborhood we saw some lavender. So we stopped again and Julia started to pick some. Then some more. Then a guy came out of the adjacent house and started to question her. We had thought it was wild, but apparently it was his and he was a bit upset about our pruning. Julia offered to give it back, but he just stared us down and said it was useless since it was cut and made us feel very guilty. An innocent mistake had us fearing that the Dutch police would be arresting us at any second. We got over that fear pretty soon with a beer in Schpluiden. The lavender looks and smells very nice in Julia's vases.

Leiden
Yesterday was 401 years since Rembrandt's birth . There was a festival all weekend in Leiden for his birthday. That is not why we were in Leiden on Saturday. Giorgia, Bin, and I had planned to go for a conference, to hear a lecture about water management in Africa. We never found the facility. I lead us astray, assuming that the Sociology building would be within the university grounds, not on the other side of town. So we went for coffee instead. Giorgia and I had coffee. Bin had beer, almost deserting me and Giorgia when we told the waitress not to serve him (it seemed he was still enjoying the drinks he had the night before). As we were wandering through town we noticed some people in costume. Apparently they were Rembrandt's whores. Then we saw more. It was like Disneyland, but with dentists and nuns and painters and dead men being carried through town. There were some nice plays and celebrations that we did not see, but chose to have lunch on a canal boat and admire the crowds instead. I wonder if the lecture would have been as interesting?

Other
I have finally recovered from last Thursday's capoeira class. Julia, Carol, and I went last week after some time away. Besides an unexpected kick to the stomach (OK, I expected it, but was just a bit slow to tense my abs), the rest of the class was quite successful. We got to climb ropes like in elementary school gym class. My chest was sore for days and my legs are still a bit tight, but we had fun. It made our Saturday futbol match a bit difficult at first, but after warming up I was fine. Of course, after the game I recovered with beer and chocolate chip cookies.

The Women

It's been a really long time since I posted anything, but I will have lots to say in the next week about the past month. So much has been going on that I haven't had time to sit at my computer and sort through stories and photos. McHale and Genny are currently visiting. Molly left on Friday. The four of us are an effective gang, a clique from Duke who meet up once a year in a different city. This year I played host in Delft.

It has been so nice to see my friends and we have had lots of fun exploring The Netherlands together. I've been living here for almost six months and this week was the first time I've been a tourist in Delft. We climbed the New Church (which is only about 600 years old) to get some amazing views of the city. We visited a Delftware factory and saw how porcelain is made. We explored the small streets and pubs that I had never managed to see. Then we did the same in Den Haag and Amsterdam. I even made it past the train station in Rotterdam.

On Thursday we went Keukenhof gardens. I have never seen so many flowers in one place. Well, maybe I did at the flower auction in Aalsmeer, but those were all cut. These were planted. There were so many in bloom, but I have been told that it's early in the season and that they will be even better in about a month. A month? But they are perfect now. We wandered through the tulips for hours and were fortunate enough to not only have no rain, but even sun.

Yesterday while Genny went to Brussels, McHale and I went to Maastricht. We eat our way through the city. Most people will eat their way through Spain, France, or Italy, countries known for their diverse and distinct regional flavors. Holland is a bit different. I would describe the cuisine as boring, which is perfect for me because I am a picky eater. The country is so small that it is in effect a region, so in the southernmost part Mc and I feasted on bread and cheese, waffles, chocolate, coffee, (we skipped the raw herring), beer, and fries. I know that some (most) of those foods are usually associated with Belgium, but we were right on the border and were not about to spend the whole day eating bread and cheese.

Leiden today?

Excursion

Yesterday was a long day. I was at school at 7AM for our field trip to Leidsche Rijn, a city adjacent to Utrecht. Field trip sounds so junior high, excursion is a SAT word. But gone are the days of the pink card that needs to be signed by every teacher at least one week in advance (Jones, that was for you). We drove for an hour to this new town that was supposed to be designed as a sustainable city. It wasn't. We received a lecture from the head of the Department of Water Management, followed by a Q&A session. He seemed to imply that the city was self sustainable in its water use, but in actuality it was just that the canals recirculated their own water. Each question that the class asked we learned more about how typical the design was. Drinking water was piped in from Utrecht, wastewater was piped back, and there were no water reuse or conservation measures. The only thing even relatively new was the fact that they varied their canal levels by up to one meter (like a standard detention pond).

Actually, during the field trip we got to see the “stabilized fog” that another professor had been talking about in a previous class. Except the “g” in Dutch is pronounced like a throaty “ch” so when the Dutch say “fog” it sounds like an inappropriate word in English. So the highlight of the excursion was Orgilt (Mongolia), Helga (Honduras), Loreen (The Philippines) and I giggling like school children while talking about the “fog” (and the “sheet” flow, where the “ee” sounds like an “i”).

Anyway, we then spent an hour (in the cold) roaming the streets of the development before returning to Delft for lunch. We were supposed to eat in Utrecht, but that fell through. I would have liked to see the city, but it's alright that we didn't because I was able to go to the market in Delft were I got some eggs and potatoes and some beautiful roses.

After lunch was a discussion about what we learned from the field trip (even the professor was a bit disappointed) followed by a presentation from a gentleman who works for Waternet, the company that manages the water in Amsterdam. That was cool. We learned about the pumping stations and the locks for the canals and how they regulate the levels. But the biggest epiphany was the fact that The Netherlands is just one large cut and fill equation. The Dutch reclaim land from the sea and lakes, but also remove land in some areas to make new lakes and canals. It's like they are constantly redecorating their country, moving water like people rearrange pictures.

I managed to finish my 12 hour day by attending a modern dance class. It was so much fun. I thought it was just a workshop, but the instructor (our head IT guy) said that he was coordinating a performance in June when the school celebrates its 50th anniversary. I never though of myself as a dancer, but that would be cool.

Exams are next Tuesday and Thursday, so I will be studying this weekend.

Sinterklaas

Last week when we rode to Den Haag there were dozens of people roaming around town in festive clothing and black face paint (as shown with Helga). This past week in Delft lots of shops started putting up their Christmas decorations that included lots of black dolls (as shown on the drum with Meita and Nuttakan). Last night at the IHE party I found out what this is all about, because while we were eating typical Dutch food and having a few beers, Sinterklaas decided to visit (hopefully those pictures will be provided soon by Carlos).

Sinterklaas (aka Sint Nicolaas) is the Dutch equivalent to the American Santa Claus (duh), but in Holland he comes by boat from Spain (though originally a Turk, so his hat is like that of an eastern orthodox bishop). He arrives mid-November with his assistants, Zwarte Piet (Black Pete, as shown in the pictures) who hands out candy. Sometimes they throw the candy, which actually hurts when it hits you in the face. Apparently painting one's face black for this occasion is not racist, for Pete was the devil and was the servant of St. Nic. I think. Regardless, I don't think that it would be PC in the US. Between the arrival of Sinterklaas and the exchange gifts on December 5^th, children put their shoes near the fire and wait for them to be filled with candies.

On the whole, it probably doesn’t seem too different from American traditions, but I have not explained it well. Wikipedia does a good job, but the best explanation of the concept that I have found was on This American Life. A few years back David Sedaris performed a piece called “Six to Eight Black Men” (in episode 201 from 2001 archive called "Them" dated 12/07/06, for the text click here). Seriously, read or listen this piece, you’ll be falling of your chair laughing.

Hup Holland!

Last Wednesday I went to my first soccer, I mean football, match in Amsterdam. It was a friendly between The Netherlands and England. I did have to leave class about five minutes early (a tour of the TU-Delft library, but I went back for another tour because I needed to return for my new library card, I was the only one in the class that was not in "the system", basically they forgot about me, but that was resolved). Anyway, it's really convenient that the Amsterdam ArenA is just over an hour away by train. So about a dozen of us went, there were a few Columbians, some guys from Ecuador, the Spanish girls, among others. I went with people from cultures that actually know and care about football. So it was nice.

Unfortunately, the game wasn't very exciting. It was a friendly, and both teams seemed uninspired. But the Dutch fans were really fun and colorful. I still have not figured out what the word "Hup"means, but it's on all the banners and scarves and sounds appropriately Dutch. The English supporters were segregated from the rest of us and extra police were on duty, though I'm not sure if it was for our protection or theirs.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw and there were no penalty kicks. I love the conciseness of a football match. Start at 8PM finish before 10PM. So, what do a dozen grad students do afterwards (the ones who don't have to meet their advisors in the morning)? Go to the Red Light District for a drink of course. We didn't actually have drinks there, we just walked around and looked at the windows. We found another place for a drink that was closer to the train station, because after midnight the trains only run once an hour. In bed by 3:30AM. In class at 8:45AM.