Krakow-ing up

Excuse the bad pun. I haven't been sleeping so well as of late.

Briefly: y'all need to be really proud of me, because I managed to pack everything I need for 4 days in Poland in my backpack. I'm bringing ONE PAIR OF SHOES.

(Collective gasp!)

(Collective applause.)

I'll be back from the homeland on Monday afternoon.

Tour de Nijmegen

This is what happens when you give bikes, beer, and neon spandex to a bunch of internationals with minimal work, no extracurricular activities, and no immediate travel plans.


The race commenced!



There were only a few casualties: a wheelchair, a rear bumper, and the front wheel of a bike (picture above) due to said collision with bumper.



Honestly, it was one of the best days I've had here thus far. The sun was out, the veggie burgers were a'grillin', and the laughter was plentiful. Nijmegen isn't always wonderful like this, but I'm sure glad when it is.

"No, it's not nirvana, but it's on the way..."

So we were all sitting around Jaclyn's kitchen table with a bottle of wine a couple of weeks ago and her flatmate Jasper mentioned that he was in a choir. Me: WHERE? WHEN? HOW? PLEEEEEASE TAKE ME. PLEEEEEASE.

And he did!

We're singing Poulenc and Stravinsky and my sight-reading abilities and vocal cords are intensely out of shape and it's conducted entirely in Dutch, but I'm officially joining next week as a sopraan een (soprano 1, for all you keeping score at home). This is...good.

Other news: finished with first-term finals on Thursday, participating in the Tour de Nijmegen (80's-themed bike race and BBQ with the internationals) on Saturday, just finished Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (and LOVED it), and regained electricity in my flat today for the first time since Saturday night. The weather's good. Awesome, actually.

Oh, and there was a petting zoo at the gihugic Easter Monday market in town.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm in Europe. Nothing really makes me think "WOW, that was European" anymore. Even seeing fellow students enjoying beers outside the campus bar on my way into class doesn't seem weird anymore. Nor do bicycle school buses carrying loads of preschoolers. (Sorry, no pics for that one...you'll just have to imagine.)

I'm home in exactly 11 weeks. As excited as I am to fall prostrate and kiss the gum-covered sidewalks of Illadelph International Airport, I can't shake the feeling that time is flying waaaay too fast. In fact, I just got an email about senior picture sittings. BUUHHHHH.

Good Friday, Dutch-heathen style.

Fake Vermont...

...Swedes hard at work...



...and open umbrellas at Piecken.

Filth.

So you know how I said that our hallway kitchen is the universal black hole of filth? Proof (Dad, you should enjoy this one).


Also good to keep in mind: this was taken on a Saturday. Saturday as in two days after the majority of my roommates go home for the weekend. This pile of half-eaten week-old food, used cooking appliances, and warm fritesaus (can I think of anything more horrible? well, no.) is usually left out on the table/counter for all remaining roommates to enjoy for three to four days.

Oh, and I found a dead mouse next to the couch yesterday.

My freckles tell me it's spring.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the two reasons why I'm functioning right now: sunshine (it got up to 65 degrees F today!) and Goffertpark (a gihugic green space in western Nijmegen populated by precocious blonde children, ponies, and friendly pooches).

Final exam weeks for third quarter have commenced--ergo, no class. I only have two finals coming up, so I really don't have much to do but sit/bike/sleep in said sunshine and straight chill, bro. It's been nice. I also discovered the library today. It was...comically unpleasant. Does this really surprise anyone?

The kicker: the university GYM has longer hours than the university library. Gulp.

I've been in the oddest mood lately: not quite homesick, but yearning for something a tad more meaningful than the class-gym-dinner-party-sleep cycle that's been dominating my life as of late. I think Krakow (three weeks!) and London (seven weeks!), as well as Queen's Day in Amsterdam at the end of April should help to shake it up a little bit.

Speaking of which...April? When did that happen?

I really am excited for Poland. It's going to be cray-cray, mostly because I don't speak a word of Polish--wait, yes I do! Kaczka! It means "duck"!--but also extremely cool because Eastern Europe is muy affordable and sort of off the beaten path (at least for your average college student). I'll be able to see Auschwitz, which will be awesome. Not WHOOOO SPRING BREAK kind of awesome, but in the traditional sense. Overwhelming and fascinating and terrifying.

Figuring out the train system will be similarly overwhelming...which is why we're so darn lucky to have Polish nationals as friends. Wish me luck as we put this whole impromptu thing together.



P.S. I miss you guys. Like, a lot.