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Vermeer

I know I've posted three times in the past fifteen minutes, so I hope everyone will realize that and read through all three posts. I just had to post up this one last time because I just found a really nifty webpage. I'm doing research for a paper on Vermeer, and I found a webpage that has all of his paintings. Excellent!

Laundry

Head on over to Undisclosed Location and vote on how often one should change the sheets. This is a poll matter of life or death, as sheets are . . . well, sheets. But they're important. Oh, the poll is on the right hand side of the page in the box headed "Choose Wisely."

Personally, I said one should change sheets when they feel dirty, but I know my mother really taught me better. At least I can take comfort in the fact that:
(1) I have already washed my sheets, and I've only been here a month
(2) I have extra sheets too
(3) In Seattle, in my happy room, there are clean sheets just patiently waiting for me to come home and sleep in them

Life is good and sheets are happy. I hate to sleep without sheets.

Nijmegen

was an absolutely beautiful little city with a tragic history. Nijmegen lays claim to being one of the two oldest cities in the Netherlands (there is still debate over which city is actually older; I believe Maastricht also fights for the title). However, Nijmegen also has the distinction of being one of the newest old cities I've ever been in.

During World War Two, Nijmegen often got the short end of the stick. It's close to the German border where the Rhine comes into the Netherlands, so it was one of the first areas invaded. When the Allies launched bombing campaigns over German cities, they mistook Nijmegen for a German city and ruined most of the area. Even more tragic, at the time the Allies bombed, the all clear signal had just been called, so all the civilians were emerging from air-raid shelters. Over 700 civilians died in the accidental bombing.

Catering to the Public

In the United States, there is a certain level of expectation to things that must always be met. Public places are expected to be comfortable, clean, and appealing. Lawyers paste warnings everywhere to avoid the potential of a lawsuit. In Safeco Field, where I spend my summers running up and down stairs, every spill is cleaned within minutes, the stairs are textured to prevent slips, and no angle is too steep. Not so here.

In the stadium here, the design looks to have been done for a few purposes. First, the seats are extreme seating, which does give one a mostly-unobstructed view of the game. This seems to be the biggest concession to the public. After that, it seems like everything is designed to be able to streamline the process. The stadium is meant for watching the game and nothing else.

New Pictures

have been uploaded to the "More NL" photo album. Also, I completed all the captions. Enjoy!

Prayer Request

My brother left for his second tour of duty in Iraq today. He's an Arabic linguist with a Marine artillery unit, and he will probably stay six or seven months.

A good friend of mine is in the Navy and just embarked on boat headed for the middle east.

I would really appreciate prayers for both of them. They are both dear to me, and I would love to see them return home safe.

It's days like this when I wonder why anyone would ever want to start a war. Don't they have loved ones too?

Trips

I have now scheduled three trips to take in the next three weeks. This weekend sometime, I am going to Nijmegen for a day to check out the town and how WWII influenced it. During the town, Nijmegen and Arnhem was a stopping point for the Allied front during the winter of '44. Both towns were heavily damaged. I am visiting as part of an assignment for my Netherlands and its European Context trip. Should be fun.

The next weekend, I am going to Koblenz, Germany, to visit a family friend. He's going to introduce me to his German nephews that are around my age. Again, I am excited.

Last, I am going to Spain for spring break to see friends from school. I am also going to check out a country I have longed to visit for years. The chance to practice my Spanish is also welcome.

I am quite excited about all my impending trips.

Uncertainty

After these weekend's trip, I am completely uncertain what to do with the rest of my life. I still know that I want to go into biology; the study of life is my passion. Even though I love taking photographs and writing, I feel that those will remain hobbies or become integrated into my work in science.

This weekend, I visited Ecomare on the island of Texel. Ecomare is an aquarium and museum situated on the coast of Texel near the Wadden and North Seas. It was started 50 years ago as the Texel Museum, and a husband and wife team began the first seal rescue program (in Europe, or quite possibly the world -- I'm not sure). These two miraculous humans learned how to care for abandoned and injured seals. They learned how to keep these foreign creatures alive, even though they were not the mothers.

New Photos

New photos are up in the photography section. I don't have time to write captions right now, but I will next week. Essentially, there is one of me climbing up a ladder in a windmill, me with sangria from tapas, the beagle eating split pea soup, me with my roommate Joyce, and me with Central Station in Amsterdam in the background. So, lots of pictures of me to answer everyone's requests.

I will be in Texel (Tessel) this weekend on a trip with my schoolmates, so I won't be answering any emails or posting at all. I promise that I will spend some time to write long emails or letters to people soon. Time goes so quickly here.

Airfare Confusion

Everything I read, everyone I talk to, every bit of information about Europe talks about how great it is to fly there because you can get truly cheap tickets. However, after searching more than ten budget airline sites, I can't find a plane from Amsterdam to Madrid that is even affordable for me. The cheapest flight to go to Madrid over Spring break is about 180 euros, and I'd have to take a train to Brussels to catch the plane. And then, from Madrid, I'd have to catch a bus to get to Grenada. This is all quite frustrating; it makes me just want to stay in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany for my whole trip because I can affordably travel by train between the three.

How do other people do it? Does anyone out there have a little pearl of knowledge for me? How do you find cheap flights to other countries within Europe? The cheapest flights are with ryan air, and I can only cheaply fly to Ireland, Italy, or London with them. I am quite frustrated right now with my lack of bargain finding. I'm about to give up and go to a travel agent to see if I can get a better deal.