Jet-Lagged

I’m back. I’ve been in the US for four or five days, but I still feel like I’m getting up way too early and getting sleepy way too soon. That’s what 3 weeks in Europe will get you. I wish it were more fun, but the trip’s over now.

I don’t like Amsterdam nearly as much as I liked England. Next time this customer calls me to go back, I’ll stay at a hotel closer to the work site in Haarlem and not even bother with Amsterdam. That city is way too crowded and just too gritty. Trams going everywhere at all hours, impossible one-way streets around and through the canals, the ubiquitous bicyclists… quite a dificult city to relax in. There was good food, though. While we were there, Laura and I had Thai, Indonesian, Italian, Greek, and even Dutch food. All was quite good.

For fun, we took some tours on the weekend to the countryside surrounding Amsterdam. We went to Edam and walked around the town (quite a lovely little place), then to a place where there were old windmills still working. We even got to go inside one while it was running. Then, we watched them make some wooden shoes and cheese. (We brought some cheese home with us, of course.) That night, we went out for “Museum Night”. It started at 7pm and went until 2am. For one fee, you could visit as many museums as you could manage, ride free trams and canal boats and go to the zoo and aquarium. We did as much as we could, but were exhausted by 2am.

On Sunday, we went to church at an English-speaking church in the attic of an old house in the city center. They had awesome music and there was even good food there (American style…). We got to hook up with one of Laura’s old classmates from SFA.

But: it’s really good to be back. This weekend was so relaxing. I never realize how much I miss home until I’ve been gone for so long. The only thing that kept me sane is that Laura was with me. Of course, now that I’m back, I’m gone again. I’m now in Greenville for the next few days until I come back to head back out again for Cozumel. But that… is another story!