We arrived in the Netherlands after a 7 hour plane ride and boy was I tired. We met our guide, Rene, who greeted us wearing a top hat. We all bought something to eat at the airport to hold ourselves over before lunch. I ordered a blackberry smoothie for 5.75 EUR. It was quite costly, but it was fresh and so delicious. Next, we went on the train to Central Station, which were very clean and smooth, unlike NYC's public transportation system. I was impressed by the organization of all the trains and how easy it was to use. Through Central Station there was a ferry to take us to our hotel, which was actually on a boat, so it was called the Botel. We went back to the main part of Amsterdam to enjoy a boat ride of the Holland canal system and all the ornate buildings along the canal. I enjoyed the boathouses and we were even greeted by some of the owners with a wave or smile. I received some life advice from Dirk, the vice principal of Montgomery Blair High school in Silver Spring, MD. He told me never to settle in a relationship and that you have to know yourself well before jumping into a relationship. He knows that due to his own experience. I just love learning from older adults-some can be so helpful with helping people that seem aimless in their 20s. We ate lunch at a fabulous Italian restaurant! It was a delicious thin pizza with broccoli and chicken, I could only eat half of it because the serving size was huge. Who knew that the Netherlands had such large serving sizes when I have not seen any obese people yet!! Americans must be doing a million things incorrect, because we really are unhealthy. Anyway, I sat by all the girls and we loved all of our meals, but we were complaining about how tired we were! Next we went on a city walk with our wonderful guide Rene. When Stacy said Rene was 'great', she wasn't lying! He is such a sweet and easy-going man. Our group is already SO fund of him! The city walk acclimated us to the area but I couldn't hear much of the information. Christina said she wanted to give him some pointers because she is a tour guide back at school. Stacy, Amy, and I got lost from the group when we saw a giant bottle of Nutella!! ;) Then we found a fancy water fountain. At this point we were so lost that Stacy had to text Rene! I'm just glad I was lost with Stacy. Stacy is the best professor ever! She is so positive and delightful to be around- I want to be more like her! I can tell this trip is going to be amazing! I hope the group can get along because we are all so different, but I am sure it will all work out! I went to bed early, but before that I had a, gasp, hamburger, at the bar because that is all they were serving for dinner. The meat was gross and it makes me hate red meat even more now. I am trying to be more go with the flow this trip so this is a step in the right direction. I fell asleep at 9:30pm, without any naps before then, which means I conquered the jet lag!
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