Almost a Waste of a Month

Being sick is no fun. Being sick in London, where you have to get adjusted to socialized healthcare and have no mother to take care of you is especially no fun.

I feel like March has been an absolute waste. Almost immediately after coming back from Amsterdam, I went to work on a screenplay for my scriptwriting class and a 2,000 word paper for my Gender, Race and Empire class. On Saturday I had a very tame, but very lovely day. Eissell and I went to the Tate and I could have easily spent hours in front of the Picasso paintings. I saw some other delightful works, like "Forgotten Horizon" by Dalí and this odd piece called "Forget Me" by Portuguese artist Julao Sarmento that had the words of Foucoult plastered on it. Later on we met up with Lakshman and got delicious Indian Burritos (Just don't call them that...but that's essentially what they were) and then some lovely dessert at the Patisserie Valerie.

Shortly after, I found myself with a severe sore throat and a case of strep unlike I had ever experienced before. It took me days to finally realized this was serious, and once I got on the antibiotics it took about 24 hours for them to kick in. During that time I found myself getting even worse, so I rushed off to the clinic again and waited to get advice about how this was normal and it would go away once the antibiotics kicked in. Oh God.

Finally felt normal by my birthday, although not normal enough to celebrate my 21st exactly how I wished but oh well. I still had lots of fun. Over the weekend I unfortunately had to essentially learn all of Old English, but had an adventure with Elaine basking in the lovely sun and attempting to get some studying done.

Monday after rewarding myself for all the hard work I put into the test (haha) I went shopping on Oxford St. and found one of the only Chipotles in London hurrah! Later on in the evening, I got a lovely surprise from my friends. I was lured to Elaine's flat under the pretension that we would watch Harry Potter with pints of Ice Cream. Instead, I was wonderfully surprised with a cake and candles and lots of wine and cider. I can honestly say I had no idea, and I had a really nice time.

Tuesday was the Spanish boat party on the Thames. We were lost for a little, but there's really no better place to be lost than on the Victoria Embankment with such lovely views of South London across the Thames. Finally we found the party, and of course I danced and there was some Bachata to dance to. I met lots of lovely people and cooled down outside on the top of the boat when things got too sweaty downstairs (or got a drink spilled on me yuck!). I was very proud of myself: I managed to dance and keep my 5 inch platforms on the whole time.

Unfortunately, I got sick again so here I am now wasting away a Saturday in London in hopes that I get better soon.

Next week will be better. Also, I just finalized my plans to go to Amsterdam(yes, again, but only for one day) Paris and Barcelona with the lovely Jessica Rosenbaum. Jess is coming to Europe yayy!!!

xoxo

Amsterdam

First off, incredible city. I'm sorry I didn't look more into studying abroad in Amsterdam because I never wanted to leave! Oh well, I guess I'd be saying the same about London if I had gone to school somewhere else.

First stop: Anne Frank House
Probably the best thing I did in Amsterdam, by far. And one of the most extraordinary exhibits I've ever seen in my life. We only had to wait in line for 30 min, and the exhibit worked it's way from the main hall, the warehouse and the offices, until we finally got to the landing with the movable bookcase. I think I almost cried (the first of many, many times). We then crawled up the narrow stairs (all the staircases were frightfully narrow!) into the bedrooms of Otto, Edith and Margot and then Anne and Fritz. Otto Frank wanted the house to be preserved just as the Nazi's had left it...sparse and destroyed. There were still a few pictures of the movie stars Anne had hung up in her bedroom, but many appeared to have been ripped off. At the end of the exhibit there were interviews with Otto Frank, Miep and one of Anne's childhood friends that she re-connected with in the concentration camp. I have to say at one point during the tour, when I noticed most of the people were gone from the room, I put my nose up to the window and tried to breath in the fresh air, just as I remember Anne Frank writing about in her diary.

Eissell and I walked back to the hostel, soaking up the delightful atmosphere of Amsterdam (and sun!). I couldn't get enough of the quaint, crooked 17th century canal houses! Then we spent the rest of the evening at the bar at the hostel, meeting some new people.

Next day we went to the Rijksmuseum, which I have to say I was not too impressed with. I loved the few Vermeers I saw (esp. The Milkmaid) but discovered I'm not much of a fan of Rembrandt, which the museum prominently features. Then we ventured off to the Leidesplein, stumbled upon Vondelpark on the way (our Central Park) and what would you know, it started to snow! We had some dutch pancakes (which were scrumptious) and eventually headed back to the hostel, where I enjoyed myself in the smoking room and then headed back out to some bars.

Third and Final Full day we started off my doing a marvelous (free!) walking tour of Amsterdam that included everything from The Red Light District and facts about pot to why the houses are crooked (they're all built on marshland that settles after 100s of years) and showing us the original building of the Dutch East India Company and the Old Jewish quarter. After the delightful tour, we went to our next and final hostel which was on a boat. A bit smelly and very cramped, but cozy all of the same. I then headed off on my own to the Van Gogh museum, which I enjoyed so much more than the Rijksmuseum. I've alwayed liked Picasso, but I absolutely feel head over heels in LOVE with him here. They had a special exhibit on him and his life in Paris, and focused on his transition from the blue period to the rose period. I enjoyed the Van Gogh's a lot too, but I have to admit, not as much as the Picassos!

Then back to the boat hostel, where I fell asleep for over 3 hours and missed heading out to the coffee house with some new friends (oh well) and then walked around with Eissell in the fog to soak up our last night in Amsterdam, finished off with some deliciously greasy noodles mmmmm.

And back in London I am!