Greetings from Holland...

...the land of steep stairs and rectangle spectacles.

I arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday morning, after a stressful last few days in Ghana. I spent my last three days in Accra...enjoying the city. However, I also enjoyed a sketchy cheeseburger on Monday night and ended up with food poisoning! It was not a pretty picture. I was sick all day Tuesday and Wednesday. With my flight leaving Wednesday night, I decided to stop by the hospital after I plowed through the "Do not Enter, Cleaning in Progress" sign, and into the hotel lobby bathroom, and threw up right after the cleaning lady cleaned the stall. "Sorry - you may want to clean that one again." I was worried I might have malaria and didn't want to be stuck on an airplane feeling so awful.

The trip to the hospital wasn't much fun, either, as I was fooled by the "niceness" of the facility. I was ushered through the many steps rather quickly, and only spent about three hours there. But, in the end, the Dr. told me I had a urine infection, since my symptoms were that I had to urinate frequently and it burned when I peed. Uh...no. Those weren't my symptoms at all! I took the antibiotics, though, and by Wednesday evening was feeling much better. (I was tested for malaria, too, but showed no signs, thankfully).

It was really hard to say goodbye to Ghana. (I'm sure I'll write more about this after I have had some time to reflect). While I was happy to leave the heat, sweat, rice, bucket showers, tro tros, mosquitoes, and handwashed clothes behind, I was extremely sad to leave the people who have become my friends and family over the past eight months. I am already thinking about when I can go back.

The airport experience sucked, too, for the most part. I arrived early, and was directed straight to the customs area, where two men were sitting behind a table. They looked at my bags, wrote some numbers on them in chalk, then told me how beautiful I was, and told me to proceed to the next counter to check my bags in.

Now, mind you, I had a lot of baggage. When I came to Ghana, I brought a large suitcase filled with donated school and art supplies. It was heavy then, and I paid the fifty dollar penalty in Seattle. I also brought a big backpack with all my clothes and a small backpack with my computer, etc. I have all the same luggage on the way home, too. Only the large suitcase is now filled with gifts and clothes I bought in Ghana. Many of those gifts are beads. Or wood carvings. These items equal heavy. Sadly, Lufthansa only allows 20 kilos of luggage TOTAL. My big backpack weighed 23. The large suitcase weighed 29 kilos. I had 52 kilos, overweight by 32 kilos. My first mistake was going to the woman behind the checkout counter. I should have gone to the man. I sailed right through the customs counter...what was I thinking? Ghanaian men are suckers for overweight white women. But, no, I chose to go to the woman.

She told me my bags were 32 kilos over.

I said, "What are my options?"

She said, "Well, it's 30 dollars per kilo over."

I said, "So, I have to pay 900 dollars to take this bag home?"

She said, "Yes."

I started crying.

Already, I know I have changed in two ways. Never before would I have thought it would have been advantageous for me to go to a man behind the counter versus a woman. Secondly, before, I probably wouldn't have started crying. I would have gotten mad, and gave a piece of my mind. Or laughed. Out loud. But tears? C'mon Cockle.

It worked though. (Behavior reinforced). She got all annoyed and said, "Don't cry. People will think I am causing you to cry."

I tried to say, "YOU ARE!" but I was crying too hard.

So she said, "Can you pay 160 dollars?"

More tears. "Do you take a credit card?" She laughed. Only cash. I had only 60 cedis. She asked how much I had. I lied and said 50 cedis. She took the fifty cedis and checked my bags on through.

I don't think they'll be so forgiving at the Amsterdam airport. I'm looking into shipping options.

Holland has been fun. It's great to see my friend Maaike again. And she's a great hostess. And, since she left Ghana in January, she knows all the weird feelings I'll have as I have them.

The first day I was here I devoted my time to showering and taking a nap. The shower was amazing, and the nap in a comfortable bed with blankets was even better. Yesterday we visited an African museum. It was a little strange to go there - mostly I just wanted to shout out and tell everyone that I was just in Africa yesterday. We walked though the exhibit on Ghana...and found ourselves correcting the mistakes in the models they had.

We also visited Maaike's parents. They prepared a lovely brunch and served it in the garden. I had to hold myself back from drinking the entire pitcher of orange juice and Maaike's mom made me the BEST cappucino I've EVER had. It was a nice time.

Today we ventured into Amsterdam. We took the train, which was nice and comfy, compared to any tro tro. We went to the Anne Frank House. I was a little disappointed at the commercialism of the museum, but it was quite amazing to stand in the rooms where she lived in hiding for those two years. It was funny, as we were standing in line for the museum and after some slight eavesdropping, I realized the girls in line behind us grew up in Ferndale - a town about twenty minutes from where I grew up! Another small world moment! Maaike and I were also going to go to the Van Gogh Museum, but after two museums in two days, I was a little worn out. Tomorrow we're going to "Tiny Holland," in The Hague. It's a miniature version of the country. Then on Monday morning, I fly out to Seattle! Can't wait!!!

The culture shock has been interesting. It first hit me in the airport in Germany, where I had a layover before hitting Amsterdam. I went from the Accra airport with two departure gates and mostly black people, to the Frankfurt airport, with a zillion departure gates and mostly white people. I felt rushed and invisible.

More shock in Amsterdam. More white people, (though also more of every other type of people, too). Any kind of food I want. I think Maaike was disappointed today when she wanted me to eat typical Dutch food and all I could think about was a hot dog from a street stand. (It was delicious). It's strange to be in another country where I don't speak the language. Holland is full of rectangle buildings. Lots of clean lines here.

I am really looking forward to getting back to Seattle and Bellingham! I miss you all and can't wait to see you!

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