Packages are smaller, the metro is more efficient (and existent), streets have cobblestone, buildings are OLD, croissants are fresh, and now it's Dutch, not Afrikaans (or Zulu, ixiKosa, Lugandan, Swahili, Nepali, Spanish etc.) that is spoken. Hello Amsterdam! We've almost arrived at the finish line, but we are delaying our sprint towards it by making a 6 hour layover turn into 4 days. We arrived on Monday morning, and I still haven't recovered from the culture shock. My first reaction was: "I miss Africa".
After our arrival, Anna-Marie (one of Remy's father's friends who lives in central Amsterdam) spotted Remy's curly locks and brought us to her house. We immediately got right to work...if you can call madly touring a beautiful European city "work". It's hard to get used to the style of a European city, and it's people, after spending quite a chunk of time in Africa and Asia, and I'm bracing myself for being home as we speak. It's going to be a strange feeling to have complete familiarity.
Gosh! Before I get too wrapped up in news from the Netherlands...We had a great final week/weekend in South Africa. We finished up our painting project in the Crossroads township, said goodbye to our American friends, and had a fun final weekend. I went surfing (for a second time - we had gone with David when we stayed with them) at Muzenberg beach again, and I really feel I could get into the whole surfing thing. Very fun. I also got to watch another great rugby match (another thing I've taken a liking to whilst in S.A.) with David and be a part of Sarah Gammon's 18th birthday, which was a very good time as well. Remy decided to jump out of a plane on our last day (skydiving), which was (I would imagine) a different way to spend an afternoon: falling 9000 feet before a parachute saves your life. After reluctant goodbyes to Cape Town, South Africa, the Gammon's, the giraffe's, and the Miller family, we hopped on the plane.
Which brings us to the last few days. To keep it brief, our time here has involved Museums (such as the Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank's House, and the Rijks Museum...amazing), biking around the city on a rented bike, eating a dinner in complete darkness with blind waiters serving us, sweet live jazz, photography (Amsterdam is quite a beautiful old city), and eating some nice Dutch food...etc. Tomorrow Mac Bargout is meeting us here, and we fly home with him on friday.
Next I will enter Canada, familiarize myself with friends and family (and North America), try to take a breath, and conclude all that I have experienced in one magnificient (that's the dream) final blog entry. See you soon Canada.
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