It has been so long since my last entry. I partly apologize for not keeping all of you updating you on how I have been doing, I have been really stressed with school projects and just busy living my life. I think that every time I go out here in Amsterdam I fall in love with the city over and over again. The past three weeks have been truly amazing and just as busy and stressful. I went to Paris the week after spring break, it was just about exactly what I imagined it would be. Seeing the efile tower on the metro into the city was so crazy and seemed almost like it was fake. Helen was so nice and met me at the air port so that I didn’t have to go to her place alone. We went to all the typical tourist places and got to go around the city. We went to this crazy church on this hill that you can see the whole city of Paris. The church was amazing, but no pictures of the inside are allowed so I was pretty bummed about that. The church was right next to the art district was, where all the famous painters got started. Helen showed me around and I got to see a bunch of painters and got to eat some amazing gelato. After our time on the hill we spit up because she had work to do and I went to the Louvre after 6 because it was free. It was so cool to see all the things they had in there. I got to an Americano from the Starbucks and it was amazing and reminded me of the last one that I had, my last perfect morning in sunny San Diego. Then I went to this really cool pizzeria and got some amazing pizza in a three course meal that included soup and some chocolate mousse after wards. It was really relaxing enjoying a great dinner in Paris. That night Helen threw me a party with all the exchange students she knew from her school and it was really cool getting to know them and party with the French. After a good night’s rest we started out again and got to see her favorite park in Paris, beautiful, and then we went to the Institut Demonde Arabe. It is the biggest library of Arabic literature and had a small museum inside of it. It was really cool to learn about the culture and the view from the top was amazing and you could see Notre Dame so well. After that we headed over to Notre Dame and it was such a beautiful church. My only complaint was that there were way too many people walking inside of the church. After that we split up again and I got to see the giant arch and then walked from there to the Effile Tower. After waiting in line for about an hour I got to go up the tower. The view was absolutely amazing and just so happened to be sunset when I got up to the top. Cappuccino and waffle in hand, I enjoyed one of the most amazing sun sets I have ever seen. That night Helen and I enjoyed a nice Italian dinner at her favorite place and went out to a bar after with some of her friends. It is very expensive in Paris. We did not stay out too late because my flight was in the morning and I’m glad that we didn’t because I would have been broke if we did. All in all my trip to Paris was awesome and I had a great time being there. Other than that not a whole lot has happened in Amsterdam besides the usual partying and going out to clubs here. We have been getting really fancy about our dinners because my friends have an oven so we can expand upon our usual pasta and college foods. We made some sweet homemade pizza straight from Pepe’s cooking (thanks Sean) it was cream cheese, jalapeños, and peperone pizza. Needless to say it was pretty awesome. My Berroa (inside joke with my coworker) came out to visit for the day because he is studding in Germany. So I spent the day showing him around the city and then the next day my friend’s friends were here and we showed them around the city. So I am pretty much a certified tour guide now, so if anyone wants to come out and get an amazing tour of Amsterdam let me know. I am defiantly getting accustomed to the life out here and being on my own here. It is really growing on me and I enjoy walking around the city and doing things here. We planned our spring break trip for May, drum roll please. We are going to Greece and going island hopping for the week! It is going to be such an amazing trip with some great friends. I cannot wait to have great weather and sandy beaches. Tonight we are making some good fish tacos and drinking some coronas so I will feel like I am in San Diego for the night. In two days it will mark 3 months till I go back to states, the time here is truly flying by and I cannot believe that my time in Amsterdam is already at the half way point. For the next week I still have a lot of group assignments and things I need to do, but the weekends and Wednesday nights are what I work for and I cannot wait to see what is around the next corner in this crazy city.
