The thing that makes starting to write difficult is where to begin. One of my students asked me, “how can I improve my writing?” and I responded, “the number one thing to start doing is to write. Write a journal. Write poems. Write songs. Write reviews. Write even when you hate what you’re writing. Just write everything down.” So now I find myself taking my own advice, even though I’m not sure where to start.
My summer was lovely. I did not go home to Southern California, but resolved to stay nearby, not going further than Europe. I spent some time in Portugal at a yoga retreat and exploring incredible beaches. I went to a party town in Turkey, Bodrum, next to the Aegean, with friends. I had a romantic week with my Turkish boyfriend in the most beautiful place in Turkey I have seen thus far, a little town on the Mediterranean known as Kas. I even made it to Poland to see my friend Kristen's new digs. It was a summer of beaches and relaxation. Except perhaps, for the coup.
Yoga with a view outside of Lisbon
Me and Caner enjoying Bodrum
Wee!
Leaping into the Med in Kas
Wroclaw, Poland with Kristen and Carlos
I was home in my apartment in Ankara that evening. My boyfriend was browsing twitter and said to me casually, “the military has taken a bridge in Istanbul.” My response was something along the lines of, “taken? What? From who? What does that even mean?” I had no idea what he was talking about until I finally looked up some American or British news source that said a military coup was taking place. We heard jets- so many, so loud. My dishes shook in my kitchen a few times. I was maybe a teensy bit scared, but where I live is pretty isolated and my man was around so mostly I was just shocked that it was happening.
I still think the strangest part of the coup was the fact that the next day, everything was business as usual. People went to Starbucks. Walked their dogs and picked up the poop. My bf (from here on I’ll refer to him by his name, Caner- pronounced John-are) and I stayed indoors just to play it safe and watched Pixar movies. So although the whole coup experience was as mild as it could possibly be, now I can say I was “in Ankara during the coup,” which sounds pretty badass.
School this year has subsequently taken a turn for the worse. Since the coup, there has been a state of emergency declared and all our new hires are, as of now, still waiting on visas. Our school is ridiculously understaffed, putting totally unqualified people in positions they have no training in (one example is last year’s art teacher now teaching a second grade class) out of desperation. Administration has also been piling on ambitious new initiatives and has upped the amount of meetings for us, while also trying to increase the amount we teach. The result is that I now have twice the amount of bullshit administrative garbage busy-paperwork to do, and ⅓ the amount of time to do that on top of grading and planning. Last year, I never took work home. This year, I take work home regularly. What it boils down to is that I refuse to put in minimal effort for my students. I want to work as hard as I can for them, and if that means I need to work for 3 hours on Sunday, which I did today, then that’s how it has to be.
It hasn't all been work work work. Caner and I attended my friend Pam's wedding in a little mountain town outside Madrid, then took a couple days in Berlin for fun. One of my other long time friends, Robby, came to visit me and we had a good time in Istanbul. My mom even stopped by and we took a little jaunt to Vienna.
I'm next to the bride on the left. Beautiful bride, beautiful wedding.
Caner taking me for a ride in Retiro Park, Madrid
Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Me and Robby outside Aya Sofia
Me and Mom at Belvedere, Vienna
Now I’m motivated. I’m motivated to go to move on to a new school, a new country, a new life. I’ve already started searching for jobs and I’m registered for the International School/Teacher Job Fair in London. I’m used to applying for jobs which I am under qualified for (I was under qualified for the job I have now, as well as the one before this), but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that I’m actually qualified for teaching positions in amazing places. 2 years international teaching experience? An American passport? A valid teaching license? It’s all in the bag! I never thought in a million years I’d be able to apply to schools in Europe, and now I’m finding so many American schools looking for a candidate just like me and it’s making me so excited I start feeling overwhelmed- It can really happen! I can move to another place! I’m even looking at schools in the US. Why not? It might be nice to in my home country for a couple years. And if it’s not, I can always leave.
“What about your boyfriend?” I want him to come, he wants to come. The only problem is we can’t prepare beforehand, really. We have to see if/where I get offers and go from there. I’m not worried about that. I believe everything is going in a wonderful direction.
That’s where I am. Not happy at my job and having my work/life balance out of whack, but extremely optimistic for the future. I’m going to kick this year’s ass, teach my students to the best of my ability so I can do right by them and be proud, then move on to bigger and better things. Let’s do this, life. Bring it on.
I had a great week as a teacher last week. I rocked it. I made myself proud. I worked hard. Here are a few things that went my way:
Got all my progress reports done well before the deadline: Also, worked hard to make them meaningful. One of my co-workers, another 4th grade international teacher, had finished a progress report on google docs so I copied it to fill it in with my own students information, and start that way. Now this coworker, he’s not very collaborative, meaning no one really knows what goes on his class. While the rest of us are constantly discussing concerns, activities, homework, he remains silent in our meetings. He’s not exactly a teacher that I could use as a mentor. I was on my fifth progress report, and I turn to another international teacher, one that I look up to a great deal and has helped me more than I can say, and remarked, “hmm. This isn’t taking too long. I’ll be done with this in no time!” She asked me what I was writing and I just said, “just general things we did in class which is similar to each student so I don’t have to change that much when I make a new one.” Then I asked her the kind of things she puts on hers, and she said, “I put as much as I can about each student. I know most parents won’t even read my comments but the parents that do really appreciate it.” I saw the kind of stuff she was writing (how the student did on each subject on each test, how they behave in class, their research methods, their writing, their teamwork skills…) And I commented, “You know, I got this progress report from [teacher mentioned above] and I guess it is the bare minimum, but it’s so much faster and I’m almost done…. I guess I have to think more about the teacher I want to be.” I ended up going back and re-doing everything. I got all my data (tests, notebooks, projects, homework assignments) and made personalized comments for all that I had on each and every kid. It took a lot longer, but in the end I feel like I made the right move. I don’t want to be the teacher who does the bare minimum. I care about my students and I want to do my best for them. I still finished 2 days early because once I got in the zone it was easy as pie.
2. I received many compliments and nice words about how I conducted myself in the classroom over the bombings in Ankara: I posted this on my facebook about what I did in my classroom:
“After the first bombing in Ankara, I talked with my students about how when bad things happen and it seems like we have no control, we have to do our best to spread kindness. I gave them a random acts of kindness bingo board that said things like, "write a positive note to a classmate" and "clean up after someone else" and they took up the challenge. Today we talked about the bombing that occurred yesterday and my students asked, "can we do another kindness challenge?" These little guys melt my cold, cold heart. They are some of the best people I know. I love my students so much it tears me up inside that they have to face evil in the world, and it makes me so proud how they deal with it.”
After I posted this, the school counselor sought me out and in lunch room said to me with this wide-eyed sweet expression, “what you wrote… you’re amazing! I love your thoughts about kindness! May I share it with the others on the fourth grade team?” Of course! Here’s an email she sent to the fourth grade team and CCd my principals:
“Dear 4th grade teachers,
Regarding terrorist attack that happened yesterday, Kimberly (4-B) has started a challenge on spreading kindness in her class by saying to students: “how when bad things happen and it seems like we have no control, we have to do our best to spread kindness”. She gave them a random acts of kindness bingo board (in attachment) that said things like, "write a positive note to a classmate" and "clean up after someone else" and they have begun taking up the challenge.
What is truly heartwarming is students asked, "can we do another kindness challenge?"
I just thought we can support this idea and reinforce kindness even in the midst of ambiguity.”
While I was in the teacher room working, one of the other fourth grade teachers came by to pick up something she had printed and said, “I’m doing it! I’m stealing your idea and printing the bingo board!” She said the way she spoke about it with her students was like a news story, trying to explain how countries have “imaginary lines” that they fight over. I thought I could have discussed the news side of it more. This is what’s great about most of the people on my team. We’re always talking about different ways to approach things and we’re all great teachers with very good, very different ideas.
Even the art teacher stopped me in the hallway and said, "I have to tell you, what you're doing for these kids is so wonderful." I am so shocked and flattered that something I said had this kind of impact. I never expected it in a million years. I guess it goes to show that kindness is a great thing to spread around, and it always comes back.
3. Next victory, thy name is differentiation: In education, differentiated instruction is tailoring instruction to individual needs. Each student is different and should be taught using different materials, activities, and assessments. Part of my English class consists of a checklist kept in a packet for each student. Here is what this week’s looks like:
Each week is a little different, this week the “glows and grows” paragraph was a new concept. The last couple weeks I have conferenced with each individual student about their reading (based on individual assessments depending on how they tested previously) and gave them things they do really well (glows) and things they could improve (grows). I wanted them to take responsibility for one aspect of their reading and see if they had their own strategies to improve.
The “word work” is to improve their spelling. I gave a spelling assessment at the beginning of the year, charted their levels, and according to a book we use called, “Words Their Way” I assign word sorts to them. Some may be working on long a sounds, some are sorting words according to pre-fixes. All individualized. Bam.
Achieve3000 is an online program our school pays for and every 4th grade teacher uses. It automatically adjusts news articles for each student according to their reading level, which is based on how they answer comprehension questions after each article they read. It’s great- we all love it. Finally something differentiated that isn’t so much work for me!
Book clubs are groups of students (by reading level, with each group having 4 or 5 people) that meet with me once a week. I assign a book for them to read for a week, we read some together and talk about it, then the next week I give them an assignment on the book (it might be writing a letter to a friend about why they did or did not like a book, making a venn diagram comparing and contrasting characters, etc).
Their assignments go in the packet, I go through each packet writing comments (sometimes making them do things again because it’s not their best work), and then we start a new book club book and checklist with completely different assignments and activities. It takes A LOT of work. I’ve been doing my best to keep up but sometimes it does get a little daunting. When that happens we might take a week off for checklists and do more direct instruction, whole class activities. Those are fun too. It’s all good.
4. Integrating the curriculum: The title of our unit is, “How the World Works: Light, Sound, Advancement.” It’s all about studying different forms of energy and the advancement of technology. Our next English objective for this unit is to have the students write a 5 paragraph persuasive essay. We have an English test next week testing identifying cause and effect and inferencing. I found a kid friendly article called, “Technology: We Love It, We Hate It, Sometimes We Fear It” and created my own cause and effect and inferencing questions. It went really well, I gave the resources to my coworkers and they all loved it. It was a good English lesson that had our objectives, it had to do with technology and how it’s advancement is not always beneficial, and the kids were very interested in the subject. It rocked. 5. A good evaluation: A week and a half ago, I had the literacy coach observe one of my English classes. Her daughter is also in my class, so I was very nervous about the the whole thing. Long story short, she told me she was happy her daughter was in my class. It was one of the best compliments I could receive.
6. 21st century teaching: Our summative assessment for the unit requires the kids, in groups, to research a device and write about how it’s changed over the years. I have a group researching the computer, another one doing the car, etc. The fourth grade team decided to introduce this on Friday so the teams could research over the weekend. We were given a sheet with guiding questions on it (“who first invented the device?”) that groups were supposed to fill out. I looked at this sheet and said, “it doesn’t make sense that we give each person a worksheet, and they’re supposed to research as a group. You know what? I’m going to make this into a google doc, one for each group, so they can all work on it at the same time as a group.” The other teachers agreed it was a great idea and less of a waste of paper and more collaborative for the kids. It’s also easier for me, because I can see all their docs and see who in the group has been contributing, and I can write comments. I told our computer teacher about it and she was really appreciative that someone is trying to step up the technology in our grade. All the fourth graders have a Google account (we are a Google school) and are required to bring their computers to class every day. We use it a lot for research, I make online quizzes that are really fun (the computer teacher taught me that and it’s great), and there’s lots of online games for what we teach. Anyway, now each group has a google doc where each student can contribute and chat with each other.
I see it all, and some of it is gold. I will close my blog with this gem, my students chatting on their google doc:
I never meant for this to become a travel blog, but I haven't felt inspired to write about anything else lately.
I flew into Johannesburg (My flights were Ankara to
Istanbul, Istanbul to Dubai, Dubai to Joburg, totalling 14 hours) on the 20th
early in the morning on a gorgeous day (for the record all the days were
gorgeous and sunny). I had booked a stay with a couple from couchsurfing.com.
Couchsurfing is a website where you get the opportunity to stay with locals for
free. I used it once before: my friend Kristen and I used it when we went to
Amsterdam in October (our host's name was Gin and I saw him again on this trip- it's great to have new friends in fabulous places!) and we had a good experience. It’s really nice to stay
with a local for obvious reasons. I myself have hosted two people to stay in my
guestroom: one guy from Izmir (in Turkey) and a guy from Russia. Everyone I’ve
met from there has been nothing but lovely so don’t think it was scary or
weird.
The couple I stayed with were Dominique and Patricia and
they were so nice! When I arrived at their house they were so warm and
welcoming. I was pretty beat from the trip and when Patricia said, “let me show
you your room” and I exclaimed, “I get my own room?” With couchsurfing you’re
never sure if you’ll get a bed or an actual couch and here I was getting my own
room AND bathroom. For free. Score. That first day I took a much needed nap and
then at 1pm we headed over to Dom and Pat’s neighbors house (Mors and Mizzie)
for a braai. A braai is a South African barbeque, and the only difference I was
told was that it’s a wood fire. I was so happy to have so much delicious PORK!
A braai is a festive occasion, and we stayed for several hours. Patricia’s mom
and her husband came over and we drank and laughed into the night.
Dom and Pat's house with a thatch roof. My room was the top right window.
Another view-with pool!
Mors and Mizzie's yard.
Bacon straight off the braai!
I had told my hosts that my main goal was to pet lion cubs.
I had researched a little and there’s a place near Joburg called “Lion Park”
that has cub interactions. I told them about this and they looked at each other
skeptically. “Yeah… the way they treat their lions is suspect. The park is very
touristy and you only get to pet them for 5 minutes before waiting in a long
que. But there’s another place near here that has cub interaction and we
haven’t been there. It’s a lot closer and cheaper too. Interested? We can take
you to Lion Park if you really want to go.” I told them I didn’t mind, the
other place (Lory Park) sounded just fine.
We went and it was pretty much just a tiny zoo, not anything
crazy. I was jumping up and down and tried to wait patiently for lion cub time
while my friends were looking at birds. Finally I got to get a ticket and go in
with a handler. There was barely anyone at this tiny zoo, so there was no one
else waiting to pet the cubs. They were surprisingly big! It was a little scary
putting my hands on this predator, but then one that I was petting rolled onto
his back so I could pet his belly and it was like petting a big, sweet, lazy
kitty! I chatted with the handler about the lions and her job, and just got to
pet them and hang out. At one point one of them starting licking my foot, then
gnawing on it a little bit and the handler pulled it off by the scruff- so
basically I survived a vicious lion attack. Finally after about 20 minutes, I
told the handler I was good to go. I didn’t have to leave since no one was
waiting but I had my lion time and I was a happy Kimmy.
Big paws!
Lion around!
After the zoo I got on a train and went to meet my friend
Bianca. She is a girl I met on my tour through Croatia last summer and I adore
her. She’s the one that inspired my trip! In Croatia she told me, “you must
come to South Africa. Come in December, the weather is lovely.” She picked me
up and took me to an African restaurant called Moyo where I had a delicious
oxtail poike- it’s like a stew you make in a special pot and it’s a delicacy.
We chatted about our Croatian adventures and our lives in general. She’s a
beautiful person and I’m so glad I could see her again so soon!
Oxtail poike and some kind of pumpkin mash.
The next day was my last. I spent the morning relaxing by
the pool and chatting with my hosts. We had lunch with Mors and Mizzie, and I
headed to the airport to go to Cape Town.
Me and Miz giving a toast before I leave.
Before going to Cape Town, I wrote this in my notebook,
“There’s so much to do in Cape Town, I’m feeling overwhelmed. Here is my
relaxing mantra: I’m on vacation, I can do whatever I want, I can’t possibly do
everything.” While I didn’t get to do all the things I wanted, I think my Cape
Town trip had a great balance of tourism and relaxation. It was really
important to me that I got some beach time, and I got that. I would have liked
to go on a safari, gone on a wine farm tour, seen Robben Island, and a ton of
other activities, but I did and saw a lot and it was absolutely fantastic.
Missing all the other things just means I have to go back someday.
I arrived early in the evening to my airbnb. My hosts were
Ernie and Stefan and they were also hosting a German woman, Danny. We met,
drank some cider, then headed to a bar. I had booked a great white shark cage
dive for the next day and was getting picked up at 3am so it wasn’t a crazy
night.
My Cape Town adopted family: Ernie, Danny, and Stefan.
The great white shark cave dive was without a doubt, one of
the coolest things I’ve ever done. Before we went out on the boat, or guides
tried really hard to tone down our enthusiasm because after all it’s nature,
it’s unpredictable; we might not see any sharks. Ernie and Stefan told me they
hosted someone who went, didn’t see any sharks and got a free voucher to come
back, came back, saw no sharks again. There were 22 of us on the boat and we
were to go in the cage in groups of 6-8 at a time. I was in the first group.
They attract the sharks by throwing tuna oil in the water (the guides were very
adamant that they do not feed the sharks) and they have a “bait line” with fish
heads on it. We went in the water, and a shark showed up about 5 minutes later.
It was so cool! I went in the cage another time and saw another one directly in
front of my face with all the teeth aaahhhh itwassoCOOL. We saw 5 sharks in all
that day.
This one was about 3 meters!
In this next video, the quality sucks cause it's a video of a video (yeah, like I'm going to pay for the DVD) they made from the boat. But the cool part is the shark gets RIGHT in front of my face! That smiling girl at the end- I was right next to her (you kind of see me go down to watch the shark swim away). The shark's teeth were about a foot away from my face.
That afternoon I decided to head up Table Mountain. I read
that it was half price after 6, which is a pretty good deal. On the cab ride
up, I started to see clouds peaking over the top and thought “uh-oh… well,
it’ll probably be fine.” Long story short: It wasn’t fine. Tickets were not
half price, clouds covered the top so you couldn’t see anything and it was
cold, then the line to get back down the cable car was an hour because everyone
was cold and miserable. I considered this to be my universe balancing itself
out: I had had such fantastic luck with the sharks, that my universe decided I
needed a really bad luck trip up Table Mountain.
Before it got super bad- this lasted about 5 minutes.
Wow. What a beautiful view.
When I got back from my horrible trip, I told my hosts all
about it and they medicated me with wine, pizza, chocolate, and Project Runway.
It was wonderful.
Stefan asked me what I had planned for the next day, and I
told him none. He suggested a township tour. He had recommended it to his other
guests before and they all loved it. Would he like me to call and book it for
me? What I know about apartheid, Nelson Mandela, and townships could fill a
book that fits in a matchbox. I asked him what it was all about and he explained
it was where the poor black people were designated to live and they live there
still. I asked, “do poor white people live there?” And he vehemently replied
”No! White people can’t live there. Poor white people live in shelters or just
other poor neighborhoods, but not townships.” I thought a guided tour of a poor
black neighborhood sounded super weird, so of course I was all in.
I was definitely a bit nervous going to a township because I
really had no idea what to expect. Stefan told the Uber driver, “please do not
let her leave the car until the guide comes and asks for her by name.” Chippa,
my guide that lives in the township, found me and we started our tour at the
community center of the township. This is where people learn skills and make crafts
like mosaics, paintings, pottery, and other touristy, artsy stuff to sell. I
really loved this zebra mosaic but I didn’t bring enough money to buy it- darn.
Some kids come and learn new trades there, and it was a nice facility. Chippa
told me throughout the tour, “you can take pictures” but I felt really weird
about the whole thing so I basically only took the few when he said that.
That big pile will be lit on fire, the sheep heads go on, then they boil the sheep heads, then they eat them. Apparently the tongue is the best part.
Pretty zebra mosaic.
The township of Langa is the oldest in Cape Town. It was
originally meant for 5,000 black people and now 50,000 live there. The township
was never allowed to expand so all these people are crammed in. Within the
township there’s a poor part, a middle class part, and a rich part. We started
with the poor area and worked our way up. The poor area consisted of shipping
containers that the government has given them, some shacks they built
themselves, and dorms. Each shipping container has 2 families living in it.
Chippa took me to a shipping container, opened the door, and there was a woman
and her 3 children sitting on the bed watching television. Chippa started
telling me about this woman’s troubles: having a lot of children (he told me
later, “the government gives them more money the more children they have, so it
is very rare for a family to have less than 3 children. To me it doesn’t make
any sense because children cost more money!”), being unemployed, and being on a
waiting list for a dorm. She has lived in that shipping container for 4 years.
We told them “thank you” in Xhosa, their language, which
Chippa taught me so I could say it to everyone we visited, and headed to a
shack. I asked Chippa, “so… what do they think of us just coming into their
home? Do they know we’re coming?” “No, we never tell them we are coming because
we don’t want them to know and prepare for you. We want you to see things as
they are.” While I was on this tour, I saw plenty of groups of white people
doing the same thing, and the black people never batted an eye. Chippa
explained, “tourism is a very important industry for our township. We all
understand this so we respect tourists. You would never be harmed here because
it would hurt a very important income source.” People were very friendly.
Chippa hangin out in a shack we visited. That lamp used to be a blender.
Chippa lived in the middle class area, because he owned a
shack in someone’s yard. We didn’t see his place, but we did go in a dormitory
and see what in America would be a typical dorm room: tiny, three beds,
hotplate, TV, etc. Except each bed represented a family that shared the room
together.
The rich area is known as “Beverly Hills.” It was nice
homes, manicured lawns, nothing close to what we would call a mansion, but nice
kept homes with some BMWs out front (Chippa referred to these as “Black Man’s
Wish). When the tour was finished, Chippa thanked me warmly for
being an important part of their township.
After the tour, my new friend Paul, who I met on my great white shark adventure, asked me if I wanted to join him at Clifton Beach- finally, BEACH TIME! The water was gorgeous, but the Atlantic was freezing!
Lunch with a view!
The next day was Christmas. I had specifically scheduled Christmas as my "day to relax." Meaning I would do nothing but go with the flow of whoever I was with. I was with my hosts, Stefan and Ernie, the other housemate Danny, and Ernie's parents. Ernie was at the braai making the most succulent pork belly I've ever tasted, Danny made spaetzle and red cabbage, and I made a simple salad and my famous Apple Brown Betty for dessert. We had a fabulous day of drinking mimosas, laughing, and SO MUCH eating.
Mimosas!
Lucky loved his ostrich bone present!
Ernie gettin the braai ready.
Ernie and Danny prepare for the traditional Christmas vodka shots.
The backyard.
Pork belly (drool).
Spaetzle, cabbage, salad, sausage, and bacon. Wow.
Leftover meat.
Boxing Day was the day for me to meet up with Michello, my friend and a Kindergarten teacher at my school in Turkey. He picked me up after a tearful goodbye to my adopted Christmas family and we headed to his friend Coenie's house. Coenie had come to Istanbul about a month before this and all three of us partied together there and it was great to see him again. We went to The Old Biscuit Mill, an outdoor market/fair that happens on the weekends. The rest of the day was filled with visiting friends, drinking wine, and of course going to a gar bar, then a gay club, with tons of gay people. I invited my shark buddy Paul along and he was a little nervous (especially when he saw dudes dancing in their underwear on the bar) but we all had a fabulous time.
Me and Coenie
Michello, Juan, me, Coenie
Selling coconuts.
Michello and me loving life!
Visiting a friend's house.
Me, Coenie, and Michello lookin good.
All up in da club.
The next day was a time for hangover milkshakes, goodbye to Michello (see you back at home!) and more beach time with Paul. Paul invited me to go on a hike up Lion's Head with his uncle Richard and Richard's husband Grant. We went up in the late afternoon to watch the sunset. It took about an hour and some parts of the climb were a little scary. The view was absolutely magnificent. It might have been the best part of my trip. Table Mountain is quite a sight to behold from Lion's Head.
I was not joking about hangover milkshakes.
Paul at Clifton
On our way to meet Paul's uncle.
Going up!
Going vertical (sorry for the butt shot. Unless you're into that. In which case you're welcome.).
Paul, Grant, and Richard
Grant and I enjoy our champagne at the top!
When the clouds come over Table Mountain, they call it "the table cloth."
Spotted some scorpions!
Grant asked me, "so what do you think of South African culture?" And I responded, "honestly, I don't know where South African culture starts and gay culture begins because everyone I've stayed with and almost every person I've met has been gay. I have no idea how straight people live in South Africa." He replied, "that's okay sweetie, neither do we! Ha!"
Paul and I had scheduled a tour around Cape Point the next day. We saw baboons, ostriches, and penguins! We also saw some more lovely gardens and beaches. My last day. I spent the evening with Coenie and new friends, and of course we went to the gay club once more.
Paul and Hout Bay
Baboons!
Ostrich- up close and personal.
Lunch was calamari and a lovely rose wine- so cheap and amazing.
Pretty much sums up our trips.
Those two in front! So cute!
Me in the Kirstenbosch gardens.
I left in the morning the next day. It was a 17 hour flight (Cape Town to Joburg, Joburg to Nairobi, Nairobi to Amsterdam). I arrived in Amsterdam early in the morning and met up with my Turkish friends. Until we could get the keys to our apartment, we walked around drinking gluhwein and visiting coffee shops (What do you expect? It's Amsterdam!). It was really disorienting to go from summer in Africa to winter in Europe, I can't describe it... I guess it felt like being stoned without smoking anything.
Our apartment turned out to be great! Two rooms (a couple and me sharing with a Turkish girl), and right on a canal. The next night was New Years and after walking around the city all day we watched the fireworks from our window and down on the street. There were fireworks going off EVERYWHERE. It was charming.
Me and my couch surfing buddy, Gin (he's Italian although he lives in Amsterdam) in Dam Square.
The rest of the trip in Amsterdam consisted of going to bars, coffee shops, shopping, eating yummy food (stroopwaffel is my favorite Dutch treat), and a single cultured visit to the Rijksmuseum to see Elizabeth Bas, who is my Dutch ancestor.
Me and Ol' Liz. See the resemblance?
It was a whirlwind. If I could do it again, I'd spend more time in Cape Town and not go to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is fun and all, but at this point I've been there too much, too soon. Next year I might do a week of an African Safari, and maybe another week in Cape Town. But who knows? The world is so vast, my feet are itchy, and this heart of mine was made to travel this world.
