what a day

oh what a day,

i went to the FOAM (photography) museum in the center of Amsterdam today.

Was thinking about going to see Van Gogh again (I could visit it a hundred times) but decided instead, to take flowers to our old flat neighbor, Mevrouw Prijs, on the Rijnstraat.

I picked some pretty pink tulips at the Albert Cuyp Market and biked over to her house with them, hoping she'd answer her door (I had a back up plan of who the flowers were going to if she didn't). She did. It was lovely to see her. She was in her foxy animal print bathrobe socks, and slippers. She said something about wanting to go put on her pants, but she never did.

She's a very sweet old woman. Difficult when we lived on the flat above her, but in comparison to the new neighbor, she's an angel.

So we spoke in a mix of dutch and english (Dinglish?) She was always telling me, when i lived her, "you need a dutch boyfriend" when i showed her pictures on my digital camera of the friend I hung out with yesterday, she said, "dutch boyfriend?" I said, "No, He's American. And definitely not boyfriend!"

It's crazy how you can communicate with so few words.

I know she's visited New York and Miami before, she's shown me things in her house from there. She asked, "Where in America?" and I told her, "Ohio" thinking there's a possibility she's familiar with a map of the states, I offered her my Ohio tattoo. She made a disgusted face, like many elderly people might to a tattoo.... I said something like, "Nay, you don't like the tattoo?"

She showed me her arm and then I remembered she lived in the Netherlands during the Holocaust, she had numbers tattooed on her left arm for many, many years. Until later when she was getting another operation and they were able to do a skin graft, and now only a tiny dot remains.

She brought me some chocolate cake and this elegany antique tiny fork. Her house is amazing, everything in it looks like it's 100 years old, i'm sure it's close.

I just felt like this was something that I didn't want to forget. What an amazing day.

On my bike home from her house, I got hit with fireworks! The whole city goes crazy for New Years, kids set of legit sized fireworks on street corners, I screamed as I rode and bits of fire were all around me. Crazy, crazy. Oh, Amsterdam!

ode to friends

it's funny, two weeks in amsterdam, what a treat.

another treat is that columbus is where my heart lies now.

this holiday in amsterdam is absolutely lovely and a blessing to be able to reengage with this city and remember what i loved so much. it's so good to see the people here too. catch up on life, tickles, childrens books, hugs, fresh mint, markets and bike culture.

god is so amazing and just opened up some amazing doors of places to serve and really, really, really beautiful friendships in columbus.

ESL was definitely the entrance to realizing that i could be a tool for the kingdom in columbus. it taught me to appreciate diversity in my own city. that i don't have to be out of the country to have these eclectic international encounters and experiences.

i've always been a sort of "more is more" person in the friend department, i like networking, running into people i barely know and starting from there, but since i've been home i've realized the beauty of deeper relationships. sharing life. eating popcorn together.

i feel so blessed, just about every single day i'm amazed at what great people i know. it's so refreshing to have friends that are very different than you, but also friends that share the same heart and mind with you. friends that dream dreams for my life and i plan out where i want them to go with me! wise friends that encourage us dreamers to stay in school. friends to eat falafel with. friends that are cool with you dropping by when they're sick for a hug. friends that have an idea and (not even kidding) it happens to be on your "things to do in 2009" list. friends that are worth turning on the phone to spend time with. friends that listen. friends that have the most amazing laughs in the world. friends that love you more than plan a.

friends that are messed up, human, sad and hurting. but they still let you into their life and together, search for joy.

(photo by dotty christensen)

my friend kate snow showed up at my house on my birthday with a flower and a small book containing a lovely story about flowerpassing, read it here!

sinterklaas

I was just talking to Lucas and he said,

I Know what I'm going to see under the tree tomorrow.

What?

A bike and a lightsaber.

How do you know that?

Because I left two notes.

this is his AMAZING not to santa claus/sinter klaas

try reading it yourself first... when you're in need of transation, see below:

dear santa claus,

I would like a bike for Weelle Much for Christmas.

That is rorinch (orange)

Please Santa Claus.

Love,

Lucas

And then he addded:

And hed fonts

(head phones)

from the picture, i thought he was asking for gauges.

EVERYTHING is AMAZING so far.

I will keep you updated with cute stories and pictures, don't you worry!

Meanwhile, if you're the least bit interested in dutch culture/tradition or simply a good laugh... this is worth a read or better yet a listen :)

SIX TO EIGHT BLACK MEN

(option to listen on top left)

flying

it's becoming quite consistent, that i step into the plane, find my seat and fall quickly into a deep sleep. there's something stunning and brilliant about changing worlds. traveling from east to west and west to east, traveling forward, backward and through time. going on some sort of adventure to see someone or something. it's a beautiful thing when you're happy with the place that you're leaving. you're not leaving to run from or escape anything or anyone.

fall asleep smiling,

wake up in a dreamy state,

look outside the window,

floating on top of clouds,

real clouds.

the flight attendant speaks fast, her words slide right through me.

the plane becomes nearer to a patchwork city.

the snow covers the ground, specks of black houses and then more white on the roofs.

where is the colorful world i thought in which i live?

i look around.

WE ARE THE COLOR.

the lady in green on her way to new zealand. the grandma going back home to tunesia in her paisley print hijab. the teenage girls headed to france. the baby who feels as if he's through traveling forever even though he's only two.

consumerism ≠ christmas

falling

the civil wars. i found them two weeks ago. fell in love immediately with their free cd download (linked from their myspace) i saw them play in columbus tonight, they were amazing. there's something i love about people watching and i also love to see people appreciate music in their own way, that's one of the beautiful things about watching live music. well, enjoy.

my eyes are small

life is crazy. and brief.

long enough to forget things you ought to remember but short enough to feel like your list of "to-do's" might far outweigh your lists of have dones at the end of it all.

three years ago, some friends and i were held up at gunpoint, it still is pretty colorful in my mind. who i've become has changed a lot since then. i like the change. i prefer it. i've learned to not procrastinate (except when it comes to things such as homework) living. i've been able to take secrets whispered in my ear, ideas from god and do them. do them without knowing how things will or won't turn out. just trusting.

it's funny how things that were so ordinary six or eight months ago are already slipping from my mind. it feels as though a beautiful reoccurring dream has stopped repeating itself in my mind. somethings bring back the liveliness of a life i once lived far away, but i wonder how much i'm forgetting.


my eyes are small but they have seen the beauty of enormous things