I arrived in Amsterdam at the crack of Dutch dawn. I was tired. Sleepless flight. But the fresh air of an old city was just what I needed to wake up.
I've learned this lesson before, but any amount of time living in the vast and untravelable US can make you forget it: public transportation in Europe is awesome. From inside the airport I took a free 15 minute train ride to the central Amsterdam station. Right smack dab in the middle of the city. The sun was rising and the city was waking up. Paper boys carried stack to their kiosks. Fleets of men in suits were biking to work. There were canals! And winding alleyways! It was a foggy, chilly day, and I hit the pavement.
Some highlights from my day in Amsterdam:
Finding a restaurant just opening up, willing to serve me some land food. Sat on the balcony overlooking a canal... Sat down in a quiet park and played my guitar....I thought I would do something cultural/educational. Then I got kicked out of the line outside the Anne Frank house. They said the guitar/backpack combo was too big. Apparantly it's a really small space inside, and they can't keep bags for you.... some churches, some shops, some local cuisine. Nothing too exciting, but a great day exploring a beautiful city.
I've finally arrived in Kigali, safe and sound and in one piece. The best news is that my guitar made it safe and in one piece too. I've got a few days in the city to meet up with the project directors of a couple of organizations I'll be helping with this summer - Shalom Educating for Peace, and the National Organization of Baptist Youth. Then I'm heading west, to Shyira, to visit with Drs. Caleb and Louise King, who i stayed with last summer.
I don't yet know how often, but I'll try to keep this blog updated along the way.
Love from Kigali,
Joseph
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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Dear Joseph,
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go ahead and let you know that I'm following your blog on your ACTUAL blog rather than on facebook, since you're bound to come on here eventually haha
Totally looking forward to hearing about your adventure as I'm stuck in lil 'ol Durham.
Swati