What You Will

Call it greed. Call it impatience. Call it stupidity. Call it what you will, but on Wednesday I finally bought myself a copy of the latest Harry Potter. And finished it this morning. I enjoyed every second of it. I already have a copy in the states, but I decided that I didn't want to wait anymore. So that's one less thing to ask my parents to bring with on their visit.

Foreign Guests

Chicago is a so far away. I wonder if I can get this written before they are off the train in Amsterdam? I just returned from drinks and dinner with Julia, Drew (my ex) and Amanda (his girlfriend). We had a wonderful time. I was a bit nervous, and asked Julia to join me as my wing man. But it turned out quite well. I really enjoyed meeting Amanda and was very excited that Drew finally got a stamp on his passport. And the fact that they brought me some presents from home really helped (a bridesmaid dress, a portable hard drive and a book in exchange fro some candy and stroopwaffels - I think I got the better end of the deal). Anyway, it was very nice to chat and catch up and I can only hope that they enjoyed it as much. Well, I can also hope that my heat rash goes away soon too, but at this point it seems to be a pipe dream...

Waiting by the Phone

I am waiting for the doctor to call me back. I am waiting to find out if I will need to take, yet another course of antibiotics. Penicillin this time, I think. I am waiting to talk to the doctor because sometime overnight my heat rash has spread from my body to my face (I don't really know how it could do that, but it did). I now have the neck of a lacrosse player, the lips of Angelina Jolie, eyelids that seem under sedation, and skin like sandpaper. Oh, and now that group work has begun, I now have the responsibilities of a $60k/year consultant (without the money, of course). Today I would rather be a have not.

"Where is My Grappa?"

On Saturday we had a Brazilian BBQ. It was organized primarily by Julia and Marquinhos, with help from Carol and a decidedly un-Brazilian Bin and me. In the morning Julia, Marquinhos, and I went shopping to Makro, which is a bulk goods store, like Costco. But the selection there was amazing, cuts of meat from every country imaginable. We were actually able to get some nice cuts of Brazilian beef to grill, and it cost almost nothing. We spent hours chopping, cutting, marinating, carrying tables and chairs, running to the store for that last bottle of sherry. We grilled for hours, adding cuts of meat, chicken, and prawns here and there, just nibbling through the afternoon and evening.

Then night fell. The party moved inside. The beer was fading and the samba was starting. And then the grappa disappeared. Bin's grappa, his pride and joy, was gone. It was consumed without his permission by some of the guests. There was some commotion, some words, some trouble. At almost 2AM, Julia, Alejandro, Marquinhos, and I were with Bin in his room as he was ranting, "Where is my grappa? Where is my grappa?"

At 10AM on Sunday we began the cleanup. It took almost two hours and I must have lugged half a dozen bags of garbage to the bins. It was a good party. A great party, except for the last hour. After our clean up we went to the beach, to Scheveningen. This weekend was the nicest of the year, around 90F on both Saturday and Sunday. Though it took a while to get to the beach, once we were there it was perfect. We lounged in the sun, drank some prosecco from the bottle, swam in the sea, had some ice cream, laughed, and gossiped and for a brief moment, believed it was actually summer.

But not for long. Today was much cooler and it rained for hours. I woke up this morning with a slight rash on my arm, that soon spread to the rest of my body. I freaked out a bit and called Julia, I needed a second opinion. She thought it was allergies, I was trying to figure out what plant I had brushed up against yesterday. Heat rash, the doctor said. My arms and stomach have the color of cotton candy and the texture of braille. It should subside within 48 hours.

The Sickness

I've been ill for over a week now. What started as a standard infection has turned into the unknown. The Dutch are very wary of prescribing antibiotics but I'm already on my second course. I hate them (the antibiotics, not the Dutch), they seem to make me even more sick than I was before. I've spent the past 10 days, more or less, sequestered in Mina, leaving maybe once a day for a short class or a brief bike ride. I have an exam today, plus another on Thursday, so I have been attempting to study (that means I've been interspersing reviewing my notes with naps), thus at least I've kept myself occupied.

It hasn't been all bad. I'm actually quite impressed with the Dutch medical system. Apparently I have had a good experience. I've always been able to get a timely appointment with the doctor, if I need medication it is sent directly to the pharmacy via computer and ready by the time I arrive, and even at the hospital when I did not have my insurance papers with me the receptionist told me just to bring it by next time and I did not have to pay a cent. Also, I have very good friends who have been taking care of me. They have made sure that I have been fed and watered and given some fresh air.

40 Days and 40 Nights

It has rained everyday for the past month, more or less. I think I should start building an ark.

Bike Ride

I wish we had taken photos. Yesterday was a very lazy Sunday of attempting to study and lounging with Bin at Julia's place, slowly feeling worse throughout the day (nothing that couldn't be fixed with a good dose of antibiotics). So in the evening Julia and I decided to take a walk, no a bike ride. As we were leaving we ran into Elena and Maria, who happened to have the same idea. So the four of us rode to a park in Delft, one that I had never been to that is less than 500m from my dorm. I need to get out more. I was shocked, but not surprised, that there was such a beautiful place just seconds away that I had not discovered yet. Maria was almost attacked by a gaggle of geese and we got shit all over our tires, but it was such a nice ride. We then went out for some coffee in the center of town, enjoying the sun until it disappeared behind the church (at around 9PM). It was a wonderful evening...

But it didn't last. After I returned home I began to feel more ill and didn't sleep much at all and ditched my classes this morning to see the doctor. I've spent most of the day lying in bed and waiting for the much coveted antibiotics to take effect. On a positive note I found out that my 8:45AM class was canceled for tomorrow and that we only start at 10:45AM instead. So I have another 16 hours of feeling sorry for myself and trying to rest, because I vow to be in a good mood tomorrow. I'm a bit bored with being...blah.

Homesick

I'm finally homesick. During the past nine months I have missed some things, but I have never felt like this. It began last night as I spoke with my mom. She had found some of my clothes in the basement and had washed them for me. I'm 5000 miles away and Mom is still willing to do my laundry. Then she told me that she had found a painting I had done when I was seven and hung it up. How could I not miss that? Dad was napping on the couch in the sunroom, fulfilling the ideal Saturday afternoon right. And the Kid was getting me my copy of Harry Potter. I wanted to be there.

Instead I was here, in Mina, in Delft, in Holland. I am doing my own laundry, lounging on other peoples couches, and buying my own books. I sleep in a twin bed with a flimsy mattress and sheets that may not ever have a thread count off 150. And my shower won't even stay on the wall.

I'm terribly cynical this morning.

I love it here, but I miss being there.

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.

Limburg

So, for the second part of our fieldtrip (which was about a month ago, wow time flies!) we went down south. We spent 48 hours in the province of Limburg. It was a beautiful, scenic, hilly area, full of tourists on bicycles. Having fieldwork all day was fun, but the evening lectures did not give us much time to explore. But, of course, I took photos.

We spent a day and a half in the field. We put our hiking books on and trekked through farmland to find small streams. Or we put on the waders to swim in the river. I was fortunate enough that my stream was a trickle only 20cm deep as opposed to the rushing stream that was 1.3m deep (or past my shoulders) to measure the flow. We took samples and analysed them in the back of a mobile lab. I'm sure the locals thought we were crazy. But I'm not quite sure who the locals are. In one afternoon we were shuttled between Holland, Belgium, and Germany. In one neighborhood you could step into the stream in Holland and get out in Germany. We would have had so much fun with illegal border crossings before Schengen.