For the past four days in Utrecht, it will rain-- and by rain I mean POUR-- in twenty minute intervals.  I kid you not. The British man sitting next to me at the coffee shop yesterday said it was "proper rain". Proper my a** (the word rhymes with pass). It's as if the sky is having an emotional breakdown and every twenty minutes remembers it is really sad and starts crying, composes itself, and then is set off again by some emotional trigger. Like, get over yourself sky. Its getting old. 

Dear Dad,


Happy Fathers Day! I got you a very special present: a 200 dollar bill from Verizon!! "...As of 6/19/2011, Mobile Number --- ---- has incurred approx. $200 in data roaming charges." It's as if they knew exactly what you wanted!! 


Love always, Ar


note to readers: this will be the first time my dad hears of this lovely addition to all the other wonderful roaming charges I have gotten since I arrived in Utrecht on February 2nd. Lets put it this way, Verizon is going to be really sad when I leave Europe. My Dad, not so much. 

Happy Birthday to my number one fan, my mom!!!!

Oh, and happy fathers day to my second number one fan, my dad!!!

Talk about a big day in my household. I'm still trying to figure out who to call first...

STRESS-FUL!

Today is Saturday, June 18th. I go home Wednesday, June 22. Where did time go? I am still trying to figure out the answer to that one myself. I have one bag fully packed and the other one about half way packed. That is the one good thing about the rainy forecast-- it makes it easy to figure out what clothes I need to leave out. What about my carry-on you may ask...

Funny you ask! Let me backtrack here for a second. When I arrived in Schipol airport at 5 in the morning (yes, my flight came in an hour early) on February 2nd and had to manage to get two humongous bags onto a cart, plus a carry-on that was way too heavy for its own good, while simultaneously carrying my equally as ridiculously heavy backpack, I thought I was going to faint. Not to mention the fact that I had on a heavy winter coat and snow boots (no, the snow boots couldn't fit in the bags). I was having some serious hot flashes.

Hello from the sidewalk at JFK! I am still happy here because I still have my Mom to help me with all my stuff. I wasn't as happy once I had to deal with it on my own. 

Back to my amazing idea. I have decided to fill up my carry-on with clothes and then put my carry-on inside of one of the large purple duffles that you see above. GE-N-I-US. I know. But, if you are like my mom you may be wondering, "what if your bag is overweight Arielle?". Uh... Hello. If my bag is overweight, there is actually no problem at all. Instead, I will calmly remove the carry-on from the large duffel taking out most of my clothes and putting them directly into the large duffle. Wa-la. Problem Solved. And now that just means that I have a carry-on bag to fill up with stroop waffles at duty free. I am telling you, I think Travel Magazine should ask me to write a feature on smart traveling.

I tweeted the other day about how I am pretty sure that the Dutch do not have a summer. Well, I think I have at the very least confirmed the fact that whatever summer the Netherlands does claim for its own is not going to commence while I am still around. Sigh. It has been pouring the past few days, on and off, and unfortunately the weather forecast doesn't give me much hope either. For someone who never liked biking in the rain, I especially don't like biking in the rain 5 months later. You know, in the beginning it was "new" and yadda yadda yadda but I can safely say that I have 0 desire to bike in the pouring rain. Hence, why my bike is currently in town and I am not. Thank you 6:45 pm rainstorm that occurred yesterday as I walked out of yoga and stopped as I got off the bus outside my apartment. Thanks a bunch!


....how much are you going to miss me complaining?!?! Be honest.

I just ate the most delicious strawberries that I bought yesterday when I biked to the Pancake House in the forest (don't worry, no pancakes this time). There is an old man who speaks a language that is entirely his own--as in even the Dutch people have no clue what the hell he is saying-- and stands outside the Pancake House all day selling strawberries, apples, and pears. Interesting assortment but delicious nonetheless. I think they may be the best strawberries I have eaten in a while. And for the fair price of 3 euro 50 cent. #moreplease

One week left in the Nethanethalands :(

So much to do.

So little time...

What better way to put off my work and the 2,000 word paper that needs to be written, uh, like, NOW, than to show off the Netherlands. Below are two pictures of the canals in Amsterdam. Just your average view. No big deal. 

Ughhhh I actually have work to do!!! No fun! I have a 2,000 word paper that is due on Tuesday at 11 am that I am going to attempt to write the majority of today (keyword: attempt) since I also have to send in an outline of my 12 page final paper that is due next week. Well, for everyone else in the class it is due June 27 but because I will be back in the US by then I decided that I am going to aim to hand it in before I leave so that I don't have to worry about it when I am home (keyword: aim).


Oh, and to top that all off, I have a final on Tuesday, June 21-- the day before I go home. Mind you that this final is in a class where the teacher is not there more than he is there due to the fact that he is either a) at an art conference (the class is called "Media, Modernity, and the Arts"), b) we are watching a documentary so he didn't feel the need to come, or c) because he lives in Brussels, as in Belgium, as in a different country, and it just isn't "that convenient". When I heard the teaching assistant use the latter as an excuse for why our teacher wasn't at the front of the room one morning, I felt like raising my hand and letting her know that it isn't exactly convenient for me to bike 20 minutes into town either. But, I managed to keep that one to myself.


So in answer to the question that I am sure you have all been wondering since you woke up on this summer morning-- "What is Arielle doing today?


 The answer is......


work.


Booooo-ring

9:45 am- I wake up to get a drink of water. Appears to be turning into a nice day outside. The sun is definitely trying to come out.

11 am- I wake up for real this time. Pouring rain outside. Takes me a solid few minutes to actually get out of bed thanks to the rain that makes me even more tired.

2 pm- I go to the grocery store across from my apartment in leggings, a zip up sweatshirt, and flip flops. Skies are grey again.

2:10 pm- I go to leave the grocery store, only to look outside and see pouring rain. It's raining, It's pouring... OH WAIT, THAT'S HAIL.

2:20 pm- I finally left the grocery store with a free umbrella in hand and trekked back with Rachel in a full-out hail storm. 

3:15 pm (now)- Relatively blue skies with some clouds. I even see the sun. 

WHAT THE HAIL IS GOING ON IN THE NETHANETHALANDS?! 

I'm just so thankful I wasn't on my bike. Dear God that would have been a disaster.