Made it!

Well, I made it here, thankfully. I arrived here at 8Am local time. It is rainy but quite crowded--people, sights, smells... It is hard to believe that one can start the day in the familiar i.e. Cedar Rapdis, Iowa, and then in a matter of a few short hours, one can be elsewhere, immersed in a totally different culture, habitat. Amsterdam is definitely differnet than any city t which you have ever been . Bikes, trams, dredlocks, yells, beeps, and, yes, foreign smells serve as reminders to an adventurer that this is indeed a very unique place.

I have felt so disconnected. I haven't had email, telephone, nor current news. In this "small" world, it is still somehow easy to get lost, lost without connection and lost by one's lonesome.

Guess what they showed on the plane from Newark to Amsterdam? They showed "Ocean's Twelve" which you might remember had a connection to last summer's trip to Europe. Last year, I was 10 miles west of here in Haarlem and I just happened to be there when they were filming the movie. I got off the train and all these dutch girls were screaming as Brad Pitt walked by. I had wished it wasn't on so that I would sleep instead. I watch it, of course...

I didn't have anything eventful happen on this trip so far. The flight were fine-- little or no turbulence and comfortable seats. I didn't sleep for but one hour though, and it was a very light sleep too. Therefore, I am running on fumes right now. I did check into the hotel, but I couldn't get into a room until 1PM. I decided to walk around the city for aawhile, and I just ate at Burger King. Since it was a open-doored BK, I had a pigeon eating at the adjacent table to mine. he seemed to be interested in me ( most amsterdammers are indifferent to visitors) and my sandwich. That marks a first for me.

I hoep you are able to make sense of my writings... I don't know if they are making any sense to me.

Make sure to drop me a line. i wish i ould download some of the pictures I have taken...