World Views | Coming Soon!

Hello everyone!

For the past half year or so, I have been busy with a project that I began out of desire to blog more. It's called World Views, and it's an interactive series of blogposts that my friends in all corners of the world are helping create.

Why World Views?

Personally, I feel that people can have a tendency to stay inside their own bubble. You have your own routines, your own values, your own traditions and your own opinions. However, with a growing list of friends in foreign countries, I noticed that it can be very nice and useful to broaden your view on even the littlest of things. It can help you lose fears, get rid of bad habits or help you feel solidarity towards others more easily. The aim of this series is to shine different lights on one, simple or complicated, topic, based on origin as well as personality. If anything, I hope this series can help people alter their mindset where they would like to have it altered. One tiny step at a time.

How will it be structured?

With World Views I will post one question each week, for four weeks each 'block'. These questions have also been sent to friends all around the world, and respectively answered. Every post will be an assemblage of answers that were written with uttermost honesty, by them and myself. This type of blogging is very new to me so I hope it will turn out nicely and worth reading. I'm really excited to take baby steps into journalism.

Can others participate?

It would be lovely if people could share their own view or experience in the comments! Don't forget to mention your country of origin or your age in the comment!

This project goes with special thanks to all of my wonderful friends around the world willing to participate in my project! You guys are amazing!

See you for the first World Views?

Lots of love,

Eva

3 Ways Yoga Changed the Way I Treat My Body

In the Fall of 2014, I started taking yoga classes. Though I was sort of reluctant to really give myself over to it at first, I soon started learning and discovering its benefits. Today I would like to tell you all about the ways yoga changed the way I treat and use my body.

1. Treating my Body with Respect

If there's anything I've learned from yoga, it is to respect your body and really listen to it. Having a history of dance classes ever since I was six years old, I know all about pushing past my boundaries in the wrong way. It's not that the classes I took were ever highly pressuring environments -on the contrary; I picked them that way - but the inner me was always very keen on being the one to hold out a certain position just a little longer than the rest did. If others collapsed to the floor, laughing, during muscle trainings, I would be the one continuing. Despite, too, being in pain or feeling very uncomfortable. Yoga has not taught me to stop trying to achieve the seemingly unachievable. However, it did teach me to go about doing it in a different way. One that, in the end, feels more rewarding as well. During the lessons I was amazed by how much you can achieve by really listening to your body, and thereby especially your breath. The way your nose, heels or fingertips can get just that little bit closer to the ground as your lungs expand and shrink. The great reward comes from knowing that it's all coming from the system that is already inside of you; helping you achieve the things you desire. My favourite pose for this is the Downward Facing Dog.

I've always felt more like a cat doing this pose, anyway ;) Source: Littlepaws

 


































   2.  Treating my Body with Love

There is a certain positivity that comes from practicing yoga, that can be inflicted on even your darkest of days. When conflicted with thoughts or worries, that ultimately effects our bodies. Although it's hard to just push those thoughts aside, you can lessen their effect by giving your body some well deserved love. My absolute favourite pose for this is the Child's Pose, especially after some nice stretches. In that moment, in that pose, it strangely does feel like you've become a child again; protected and sheltered from the weight of the world. To go back to the purest version of 'me' is the perfect way for me to give a little love to my body.

Source: Nike Women

 

























   3.  Using my Body to Empower my Mind

There are several poses in yoga that can really help you in looking at a situation in a different way. Not only do breathing techniques help you in drawing more rational conclusions, but there are poses - like the Tree, Dancer or Balancing Stick pose - that can make you feel a lot more confident about certain challenges. It's because these poses bring you down to earth, and make you feel balanced and strong, that you will adjust your thoughts to this as well.

Source: Rainy Day Yoga by Justin Watts on Flickr

I hope you enjoyed reading my experience with yoga and that I might've inspired you to try it out as well :) My lessons will start back up again next week, and I'm very happy about that!

Lots of love,

Eva

John's gonna help me go blonder

Or at least, so he says...

Hi everyone!

I recently took a little trip to my local drugstore to pick up some products that would help me get lighter hair for the summer. My natural hair is blonde, but the kind that will look kind of red-ish when paired with certain lighting or clothing. It's not that I don't like my hair colour, I just saw fun in changing it up a little bit for this year's summer. :)

Online I searched to find what product would help me best, and many people recommended John Frieda's Go Blonder product line. There are several products for this: A shampoo, a conditioner, a mask-conditioner (correct me if I'm wrong) and a spray. As I was on a budget, I thought it to be best to just to start out with the spray and see how things would go from there.

However, walking into the store I was greeted by a lovely sign stating that the second John Frieda product would get 50% off! Plus, a free cute totebag. You understand, I couldn't just leave it at one spray then.. ;)

So, I ended up getting the spray and the shampoo, so that I can still use the conditioner that helps enhance my curls. 

A short description for each of the products (as written on the package)

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Lightening Shampoo:

"Gradually lightens your hair up to 2 shades (when using all the products in the line). For all blondes." It is a formula with citrus and chamomile, which visibly lightens for a shimmery, sun-kissed blonde. The look I was searching for. :) It renews the hair's healthy look and feel. It does not contain ammonia or peroxide.

Directions: "Apply shampoo to wet hair, lather, rinse well." And then it says some things that are mainly focussed on marketing and on getting you to buy more products ;)

The product also has a lovely smell to it, which I really liked. It's a thick shampoo, and you don't need to use lots for one wash. I love that! With other shampoos, I need to use sooo much product to get enough for my long hair. This, I think, is concentrated, as it becomes a lot 'more' once rubbed into your hair with water. 

John Frieda Sheer Blonde Go Blonder Controlled Lightening Spray:

"Permanently lightens blonde hair. For blondes only." So, we have quite a different product here. Although it says, 'permanently', I don't think that should frighten you so much. It's not an intensive bleach. However, you should pay attention to how to use this product, as its contents are quite different compared to those of the product above. It is an exclusive peroxide lightening formula, with citrus and chamomile, and it will work best when combined with heating tools. It will lighten and brighten your hair, up to one and a half shades. Gradually lightens in 3-5 uses. The package claims that the maximum lightening occurs after no more than 10 uses. This product also contains thermo-protectant, which is really useful as it works best when paired with a hairdryer, straighteners or curling tongs. It clarifies that you should not use this product on natural brown or darker shades of hair, intensively bleached hair or platinum or white shades of blonde hair. 

Directions: "For best results, after conditioning, spray thoroughly on towel-dried hair, then style as desired. For optimal lightening, use a hair straightener or curling tong after blow-drying. Only use once between hair washings. Use only on clean, wet hair. Use no more than ten times between colourings. There are actually several ways you can use this product. Namely if you want an allover lightening, like me, or just root-blending or highlights. The package explains all you have to do to achieve these goals, so if you're looking to get anything for these purposes, there you go! 

I will update you all on what the results are for me, as I've only used the products twice. Personally, I see a little difference already. My friends say they don't, so the difference is probably minimal as of now. I'm excited to see how much lighter it will get still. 

I hope you liked reading a post like this, it's a little different from what I usually write about. Nothing wrong with changing things up a little ;)

Love you lots!

Eva

The End of a Journey

As I am writing this I am well aware of the fact that my journey to and in the United States has been over for quite some time. Especially my mother has been trying to get me to finish what I started: This series of blogposts. I completely agreed with her, and yet it seemed like a very difficult task. Looking back at it now that I'm able to sit down and write this, I realise that this is just as much a part of the journey as the actual trip was. Explanation will follow, first I intend to fill you in on my last days in Massachusetts.

The day after my 17th birthday was a Sunday, and I spent it in the sun. Yes, I had a lazy day, hence why I didn't exactly feel the need to write about it that night and kind of blocked myself from doing so the nights thereafter as well. I sat outside in the sun and read in my book, which, at this point, I have finished and will probably do a recommendation post on soon. :) I honestly don't think I did anything else that day, probably play some in the garden with Chloe. For dinner DeWitt and I picked up some nice Chinese food which I really enjoyed. He thought it would be fun to watch a movie together after dinner, so we sat down and watched Pitch Perfect. I loved that movie! I hadn't seen it before, for some weird reason, and right now cannot wait to go see the sequel. On that night there was a very special moon as well! It was so big and bright and you could see it rise above the town - it was really pretty!

That Monday would be the day I took off. Only, my plane wouldn't leave until nine in the evening, so I had some time to spare and enjoy myself! As everyone else had gone to school or work that day, I had the first few hours on my own. I spent it packing my suitcase, tidying my room and reading, again, as that was the best thing to do on a hot and sunny day (28 degrees Celsius out!!), until Amy and DeWitt came home from work early to take me out for lunch near the beach. It was a small beach-café where I ordered, once again, a plate of fish and chips. Who's gonna blame me? ;) For the rest of the afternoon we chilled at the beautiful beach on Plum Island, where the temperature seemed to be much lower due to the wind coming off of the cool Atlantic ocean. A couple of college guys played a fun game with a frisbee, which I hadn't ever seen in the Netherlands before. It included two plastic 'goals' which looked a bit like dustbins, that each had a slot on the side. Each team, consisting of two members, had 1 member on each side of the 'field'. You would need to try and get the frisbee inside the slot in the bin, to get the maximum points. However, your teammate on that side is allowed to help by either smashing it inside the bin through the top (for half of the points) or smacking it against the side (for a fourth of the points). It actually looked like a lot of fun, and I'll be looking around for it on Dutch beaches as well. :) Then the time came for me to finish packing the last things, and to collect everything that didn't fit in a separate plastic bag as my 'carry-on item'. Amy surprised me by saying that she and Carson would need to say goodbye earlier to me, because they had to leave for his game. I hugged them both, and felt incapable of describing my gratitude adequately in that short, surprising moment. I knew that these were people that I'd always want to return to. I didn't get to say goodbye to Deuce personally, which was a shame. He was out playing sports, so it wasn't a possibility. DeWitt collected CeCe from school, and they took me to the airport together. At this point I was starting to get nervous about the whole airport-ordeal again. However, once there, we discovered that my gate could be found in terminal A. This meant a terminal that is solely for Delta Airlines, and at a separate far-end of the Boston Logan Airport. DeWitt and CeCe took me as far as they could, and stayed waiting for me to get through security even after we'd said goodbye. I found myself doing the same thing I'd done to my family when I left for the United States: I kept on waving until I could no longer see them. Then I was alone again. It's a sad feeling, leaving new friends/family behind, only that sad feeling doesn't entirely kick in until about a week after. DeWitt had advised me to get something small to eat before boarding the plane, as it might take a while before you get your actual dinner in the air. Looking around at the menus of the different food stands, I knew immediately what to get. It wasn't exactly as small as I'd liked it to be, but my mozzarella sticks were delicious. I'm forever grieving the fact that I can't seem to find them in the Netherlands.

I was fortunate enough to be on a plane that wasn't as crowded. There were multiple free chairs, so everyone could just move around to their comfort as we were up in the air. There was one chair between me and a - I think - Polish lady. In the middle of the night she woke me up gently to say that she was going to the back, and that I could feel free to use all the chairs. So that I did. I spent the rest of my flight horizontally, trying very hard to get the most sleep out of my 8 hours flying in the air. Earbuds aren't helpful enough. During this flight I have realised how incredibly loud airplanes are, and how insanity starts to kick in about this sound after a good 5 hours. I woke up because of the bright sunlight, in spite of my eyeshades, and was immediately overthrown with a stomach ache. There were only about 2 hours of flying left, and breakfast came around soon. A bagel and yoghurt didn't help soothe my stomach at all, in fact it only seemed to get worse. That's when you really wish to finally get off the plane already. During the landing, which was a little rough and not the friendliest to my tummy either, I learned that the two women next to me were visiting the Netherlands as tourists. I really enjoyed watching them swoon over the views, and talking about all the things they wanted to visit. As soon as the tulip-fields came into vision, they were over the moon. I have to admit that I was, too, and I definitely want to visit those fields sometime soon as well! And then, finally, we were back on the ground.

At the airport I was annoyed by the extreme distance I had to walk with my heavy backpack in order to get to the right baggage-belt. It was ridiculous! Once there, I had to wait a long time for my suitcase to come into vision again. I was even starting to worry that it hadn't made it, after the announcements stated that the last baggage had been loaded onto the belt. However, there were several people still waiting, so that gave me some relief. And there it was! My blue suitcase which you definitely couldn't miss between all the others. I hoisted it off the belt and onto my trolley. I was good to go. I had previously received a text message from my mother, saying that she, my sister and a huge banner were there to collect me. Oh, God, is what I thought. They had better not! Appearing through the arrival doors, I was awaited by my mother, sister and a huge - uhum - banner. It was tiny :') I was so thankful! And glad to see them, of course! As we hugged, I apologised for my stickiness; as it was incredibly hot in the clothes I was wearing. The reason of which was my full suitcase ;) We drank some coffee at Starbucks and continued home, where I was ready to receive birthday wishes and presents from my family!

To get back to what I was saying in the first paragraph, I think that me not wanting to finish this series was partially because I didn't really want to admit that it was over. I had had such a great time, and met such great people, that I didn't want it to feel like that was all over and in the past already. I miss it all a lot, and I think that is mainly because I can't be in contact with my host family over facebook or WhatsApp. I rely on writing emails, which I'm super poorly at maintaining. I'm taking some time, but will definitely get into contact with them again soon! My biggest wish, is for one of them to come to the Netherlands as well. So that I can show them all the things I've been telling them about. Maybe someday that wish will come true. :)

So that was the end of my journey! I hope you enjoyed reading it, and will stick with me for other posts.

Lots of love,

Eva

Young and sweet, only seventeen

Yup, I've officially reached my 17th. Good job on me, right? I had such a lovely birthday here in America, that I was too tired to write about it at night. Hence why this post is a little late.. ;)

I started the day off with getting through so many lovely messages from friends and family. I will admit that it was kind of strange to be so far away from them on my special day, but it didn't hurt. After having tried to reply to each and every one message, I went upstairs to have some breakfast. Two boxes of Honey Dew Donuts were waiting on the kitchen counter, and I had one with coloured sprinkles. It was lovely, I'll have you know.

After breakfast I sat outside on the porch to soak up some sun as Amy, DeWitt, Deuce and Carson played basketball together. I had a little photo shoot with Chloe and caught her on camera just while she was yawning. This is the result: 

It looks like she's laughing at me :')


For lunch we had leftovers from the dinner-party the night before, meaning pizzzaaaa. <3 It was great, haha! After finishing up lunch I joined CeCe to the city centre of Georgetown for a pedicure. That was the first time I had ever let anyone touch my feet like that, and I couldn't control my laughter. I am extremely ticklish in my feet, so it took me all the strength I had not to pull them back every time the brush went up and down! My feet became super smooth, though! And my toenails look better than they've ever done. When everything was finished we walked over to Udderly Devine, an ice-cream/candy shop in Georgetown. It was just lovely sitting in the sun with CeCe like that!

When we got back home I sat in the garden for a while, reading my book and enjoying the good weather. Once everyone was back home we drove off to Newbury Port, where we walked around the harbor and the little city which was perfect in the afternoon sun! We had dinner at Michael's Harborside, where Jock had invited us to. Fish and chips was my dish and for dessert I had Strawberry Short cake. They sang for me in the restaurant which was great and embarrassing at the same time, haha! They even got me presents, which I'm so grateful for!

It was a terrific birthday!

xxx Eva

People

A recurring conversation I've had during my stay here in America, was about how special and strange it is that people can meet each other just in the right/wrong time, and affect each other so strongly. Today's mindset seemed to revolve around that a lot. People.

Today started off with a slow start. I made myself some breakfast, took a shower and got ready for Donna and Jilly to pick me up at 10:30. Jilly was going to pay a visit to her personal coach in exercise/dance in Cambridge, which is just a bridge away from Boston. Donna and I would be able to walk around in Harvard Square during the two hours which she spent there. It honestly amazes me, how easy it is to talk to some people. Donna is definitely one of those 'some people'. For some reason, and I have no idea what, nothing seemed too bold or embarrassing to say to her. She was so sweet, honest, caring and funny. It was just the most lovely day walking around the pretty streets of Cambridge with her, and sitting on a little bench in the sun just sipping coffee and chatting. Well, we walked around on the Harvard property and I took some photos.

We popped into a new shop on Harvard Square which had the most interesting summer collection, but most of the items weren't tagged yet. I was just looking around and searching through shorts, wondering what they would cost. So as I reached further into the back of the store, and found the labelled items, I picked up a little piece of fabric which you could wear like a bustier/croptop kind of thing, and it was over a hundred dollars!! So that was the end of that little adventure ;) We continued onto Urban Outfitters, which is like my favourite store ever, but it's sooo expensive! Like, not as expensive as the shop I just mentioned, but still pricy! But everything there is just lovely. From the dresses to the books to the sports-clothes to the jeans. Love, love, love! I found a pair of sunglasses that I really loved and it was within my price-range so I decided to buy those for myself as a little birthday gift. (photo will follow) At this point we had to start walking back to the place where Jilly had had her training, so that we could have lunch together.

We had lunch outside a precious little restaurant named (...) Luna. I wish I remembered the full name, it was really nice there! So we sat outside in the sun and I got to wear my sunglasses, which I was immediately complimented upon by the waiter. "Oh, my God! I love your sunglasses, are those vintage??" He was a very enthusiastic fellow. Especially about the specials of the day. Well, I had a caprese-sandwich, which was incredibly good!

Donna and Jilly

When we finished up we had to leave quickly, as the parking-time was about to run out and you really didn't want to get a ticket in that area. So we toured around Boston for a little bit more by car, as my music was allowed to play from the car's speakers. (yay!)

They brought me back home to Georgetown, all the while apologising for the amount of traffic. As if they had any saying in that! I thanked them for the lovely day I got to have, and we said our goodbyes.

At night the Purcell's had neighbours/friends over for dinner, which was a lot of fun! One of the guys who came was actually Dutch! He came from Utrecht, and had, astoundingly, even gone to the same school as my Mum. It's amazing!! Such a small world. When we walked Logan, one of the neighbours, home so that she could start her homework (she has school on Saturdays!!!) we saw a shooting star! It was the most beautiful thing! Like, nothing like I'd seen before. It lit up the sky super brightly and lasted longer than I'd experienced previously. It must have been a pretty big thing falling! It was so cool. I'm still ecstatic. :')

Tomorrow's my birthday, even though it has been in the Netherlands for a couple of hours now. I'm hoping to have a great time. :)

Goodnight!

xxx

Beautiful day

Does everything just become lovely instantly when the sun starts shining? Because I definitely believe so! I had the most terrific day today, out in the open air with Jock. Despite a very early start to my dismay, this morning was amazing! At the banding-station on plum-island, we caught a bird! Only one bird, but a bird nonetheless! It was a, correct me if I'm wrong, black-headed chickadee. Which is nothing exciting, according to the volunteers at the station, but to me it most certainly was!

It already had a ring, so that we didn't need to do anymore. However, we still needed to record some data on its health. I never knew, but it turns out birds have see-through skin, so when you blow on their feathers you can literally see into them! This way you can check its body fat, and you do that by the colour. I'm probably not so accurate in my explanation, but I believe that red fat on the wishbone of this bird was a good thing. It was hard to understand exactly, as I was just stunned by the fact that you can look into a bird. Yellow was negative, I believe, depending on where in the bird you looked. So for example, a chicken would have red in its legs because it's mostly a walking bird. And a flying-bird would have red closer to the wing-muscles. This is probably the most inadequate explanation, so I may have to do this again sometime ;) The bird is put into a small cone to be weighed, and this just looked adorable with its tail sticking out.

After jotting down all the data, Ben, who was holding the bird at that moment, asked me if I wanted to release it. There was no way I'd let go of that opportunity. So I took the Chickadee over in my hand, in a soft grip the way you see him do in the picture above. It was so incredibly soft! Honestly, I don't think I've ever felt anything as soft as that bird. In the palm of my hand I could feel its tiny little heartbeat, which was so heart-warming in some way. Then I had my most-anticipated disney moment; I got to let go of it by gently letting it slip onto my other hand and watching it fly back to its friends in the trees. Something tells me this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I'm really glad I got to do it! Sad that there wasn't a photo of me with the bird, though, because they thought we would get another one... But the experience will be with me forever :)

After this Jock took me to something called News & Views, which is a talk-group for retired people. And by retired people, understand people who have been retired for a while. I think there were some people that could have been over 90 years old! Despite the fact that I was probably the only person, out of 32, under 70 in the room, I thought it was interesting to see that these people still spend their time talking about politics and current-affairs in a most-opinionated way. Truly, I don't believe something like that exists for older people in the Netherlands. Really something to watch, but the sounds I just couldn't handle. I'm terribly sorry, this is going to sound so disrespectful, but I cannot stand the sounds older people make. I cringe. I shudder. I just can't stand it. Snorts and coughs and heavy breathing, everything with just too much saliva. Certainly wish I was better at blocking all of that out and focussing more on what insights they shared in the group. Again, I'm so sorry. :']

When the News & Views meeting was over, and I'd shaken the hands of almost every member in the group, Jock took me out for lunch at Bob Lobster. A seafood snackbar just by Plum Island. Over there I wasn't quite sure what to get, so Jock recommended I would try a lobster roll, as it was very 'New Englandy'. I had never eaten lobster before, but I decided to just go for it and give it a try. As we were queueing up, you could actually see the live lobsters swimming around in a fishtank; ready to be boiled and eaten. A lobster roll is basically a tick slice of bread with lobster on it, including some slaw and onions. I have to say, I quite liked it! It tasted differently than I thought it would. Sweeter, although that could've been because of the onions.


At Bob Lobster, Jock gave me two books. He did so, because he was really excited about the fact that I wanted to become a writer, and he was certain that these two books would help me get there. One was more of a journalism guide from the New York Times, and the other a memoir and guide written by Stephen King, on (fictional)writing. I was ecstatic! I thought it was so sweet and thoughtful of him to get those for me.

Once I had finished my lobster, and he his clam-chowder, we went on a little tour of Plum Island. Plum Island is a National Wildlife Refuge here in Massachusetts. It is absolutely gorgeous! Especially the seaside! Boy, was it pretty! While Jock sat down with his vernaculars on the boardwalk, I took my chance to stroll down the beach by the atlantic ocean for a bit and shoot some photos. This one was my favourite:

And here I am on the beach!

Back in the car, we drove back to Amesbury, where we had ice-cream at an ice-cream shop by the road. I thought it to be normal to pick two flavours for an ice-cream, coming from the Netherlands and all that. Well, my eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I saw the gigantic snowballs balancing on a cone. I almost felt embarrassed for ordering so much! I had one scoop(!) of cookie dough, and another(!) of chocolate & marshmallows. Both were like heaven. After finishing it all, I felt like I'd eaten enough for an entire week!

Just after this we drove into the centre of Amesbury, because I wanted to buy my host-family some flowers to thank them for having me stay with them, and for taking such great care of me. The people in the shop helped me put together a very pretty bouquet, which I was glad to come home with later that afternoon. They loved them very much!

So that about sums up my day! Hope yours was as great as mine :) Write you all tomorrow!

xxx

Eva

Short break

Hey everybody!

I'm taking a little break from writing on here as I'm pretty tired and have to get up at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Today was a calm day as I helped Amy some more with the move of her work, and watched CeCe's lacrosse game.

Sorry for the lack of details! I'll be back on the writing track tomorrow.

Xx

Eva

A day out in the sun with Jock

To say that I was ecstatic to finally have some really cool photos to show the homefront would be an understatement. I've been wanting to take more photos last week as well, but for some reason it just felt strange doing it! Honestly, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not really here as a tourist. I mean, I am. Just differently... So taking photos all the time kind of feels strange and a violation of people's privacy and comfort zone. It might all just be in my head, but it is how I've experienced it so far. Until today. I kept my camera in hand, or at least in short reach of my hands, at all times. Today was the day I joined Jock, DeWitts father, on his regular Tuesday.

I got up early, before the clock had even stricken 6 AM, because he would be there to pick me up at 7. So that's what he did! At first we went to fill up on some gas for his car and after that we stopped by at Dunkin' Donuts across the street. The slogan states, "America runs on Dunkin'", and that probably couldn't be more true. People stop by the shop every morning to get their correct dose of coffee and donuts. (or bagels, they have those, too!) Anyway, I got a small (much to their surprise) hot chocolate. Which, put shortly, tasted like heaven in a cup. Jock picked six donuts in 3 different flavours and then we were all set to go.

Our first destination that day would be "Plum Island", which is a nature reserve near the Atlantic Ocean. Jock is part of a volunteering-group there that spend their time catching birds in nets as they come in from different places around the world on their migration. These birds would then be given a small ring, and they will keep a database with all kinds of information they can detect from this bird, before it is put back into nature. Sadly, however, I didn't get to see this part happening today. The day started out very cold and windy, making it very unlikely for any bird to enter the nets. They're basically nets that are so thin, I couldn't even see them! Yet because of the wind you could see them more easily as they flared up, which would make it less attractive, to say the least, for the birds to fly into. So I didn't get to see that process, alas. However I may give it another try Thursday morning.

After birding we went out to the head-building of this bird-reserving institution. Jock showed me around in all the classrooms they have in there for children to learn more about nature, and especially nature on Plum Island, at that. After showing me around I took a couple of pictures, saw a squirrel, and we headed out for lunch. At Starboard Galley, which I figured out the name of the restaurant was, (As Jock kind of pronounced it as a mumbled "Starbrd" and I kept thinking we were going to Starbucks) we met Nancy, who is his wife, and we ordered some seafood for lunch. I had pasta that was so greasy it wouldn't stay on my fork, but it was good though! For dessert Jock suggested I should try Key Lime Pie, which is a 'very American' dessert according to him. I tried it and I liked it very much! Mum, if you're reading this, it's kind of like the lemon cheesecake you make, only a bit stronger. You'd like it!

When lunch was done we drove to Newburyport, which is where he and his wife live, and took me to see the oldest, still-active boathouse in the country. Right next to his house. It was a beautiful boatshop. Absolutely beautiful! I guess I have a new favourite aesthetic, sun that shines through windows on unedited wood. Something about it was just breathtaking! They were actually busy creating a boat when we came in there, and we saw some other current projects as well. It's amazing what they can create with wood. The people working in there were all very young, to my surprise. But thinking about it for a little while, I reasoned that it is exactly the place to find young people. With fresh visions on how to develop new types of boats in a boatshop that is so old. One of the boats they were currently working on was a very large rowing boat, which would be able to carry an entire class of kids for example. It was still in the making, but they'd already decided that they were going to oil it instead of painting it, so that they would be able to have it used in things like movies in a different time setting as well. Which I thought was very interesting! Downstairs in the shop was a small museum with some of the very old boats that were made there, as well as a model ship of which the real one had been built in there, donated to them by DeWitts mother. She was the previous owner of that model. It was so pretty! I took advantage of the great weather and spammed my camera with photos of the little yellow boat floating out on the giant Merrymack River. I'm so glad with how they turned out!

Back at Jock's house we relaxed for a bit on his deck. Wow, does he have a house with a view! It was stunning! When he told me how the sun sets right above the river where he could perfectly see, I could definitely imagine what that would look like. I told him there, that if I had a view like that... I probably wouldn't ever be inside.

At the end of the day I joined him to an Ethics Committee that he's voluntarily a part of. It's basically what we always talked about in Science & Society class. They had me sign a confidentiality contract, though, and as I didn't entirely read it I think it's best if I don't mention anything other than that. ;)

So, to sum up, I had a terrific day! How was yours?

Xxx

Eva

Kingsday from afar

Happy Kingsday Dutchies! Or, actually... I'm writing this when it's no-longer April the 27th over there... Anyway, I hope you all had a good one!

I must say that I hadn't really missed home until I saw all the photos and videos from Kingsday on Snapchat. Do you know that feeling you get when you know people are having fun without you? I kind of had that, which is strange because I never truly celebrated King's- or Queen's day before. I guess that, once you're abroad, you start thinking of your own country in a very different way. At this point, I don't even remember most of the school things that I was worrying about only a couple of weeks ago. Right now all I'm thinking is, I can't wait for all the sunny days in the Netherlands this summer! Genuinely, I am already making plans in my head for when I get back. I hope I can keep up that positive feeling towards the home-front once I get back into the school-rhythm... But enough about that for now! I'm still in the United States, so let's focus on that so long as my trip still lasts. :)

Today I had less healthy cereal for breakfast, Carson's favourite, and boy was it good! Like a sugary cinnamon taste on cornflakes. Yum! I just realised how varied my breakfast has been this past week. Like, in the Netherlands I would have the same everyday. Bread with cheese. For breakfast and lunch. Here I've had something different every day! And lunch is mostly warm, which I really enjoy. Again, I'm standing behind my statement that we should have warm food for lunch at our school as well. I would be so much more capable of staying awake during my last periods, not even joking!

So yeah, then I had breakfast and joined DeWitt to his office where I helped him with another database task. What I'm doing there is basically helping him get ready for sales and marketing, so updating his databases in e-mail- and post addresses. Today I learned just about all the states of America by having to look up what the abbreviations meant. I feel a whole lot wiser on that front, I guess the next step would be to figure out where to find each.. ;)

For lunch we popped into Crosby's and I got a turkey wrap with swiss cheese. We ate that at home as we refuelled for the rest of the afternoon. So back to work we went until around 4-5'ish, when we went to go pick up Deuce from school. We hung out for a while in the living room, watching Drake & Josh on TV and I caught up on what my friends had been up to. For dinner we had chicken from the grill, rice, garlic bread and asparagus. And then for dessert it was time to celebrate the King's birthday. So Amy stuck some candles in the left-over carrot cake from the night before, and we had our own little King's Day in Georgetown.

Tomorrow I have to get up early and leave the house at 7, because I'm joining DeWitt's father with some volunteer-work that he's into. It has something to do with birds coming in from a different place and they are given a ring here by these volunteers. That should be really interesting! He's taking me out for the entire day, even for lunch! He might also show me one of the oldest boathouses in the country, that still creates wooden boats, which he lives almost next-door to.

I also heard that later this week, on Friday, Donna is going to take me out to Cambridge with her so that I can see some sights and visit the Harvard area! That's so cool! And I might join her daughter to some dance classes as well later this week. Overall, I'm really excited!

Goodnight everybody!
xxx

Time off

I wasn't really sure what the title should be for this post, as I don't see my 'internships' here as something like work or school that I have to go to. I love experiencing it all! Today was just a day with nothing planned for me to do, so I could use that time to relax and hang out around the house. So I grasped that opportunity with both hands and slept in this morning. I had a slow start, chatting with my family back home, taking a shower, making myself some breakfast and things like that. Honestly, I spent the rest of the day on the sofa where I'm staying downstairs. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and surrounded myself with my laptop, a book, a magazine and my phone and just had some quality leisure-time. Understandably, there's not much for me to write about here.

For dinner the Purcell's had guests coming over. They were Paul, Donna and Jilly, and I forgot about their last name. They live in Georgetown as well, and CeCe and Jilly used to go to school together until they both went their separate ways. However, Jilly goes to a dancing school in Boston six days a week, so they hardly see each other. Today was a lucky day for them all that they were able to have a get-together and I was glad to be a part of it because I had a really good time. I really liked that they talked about subjects such as books and films a lot, because those were definitely conversations I could join in. That is, rather than sports, which I can only listen to.

So that about sums up my day. A very simple day, but lovely nonetheless!

Goodnight, all!

xxx

University by day, High School by night

French toast for breakfast seemed like the best way to wake up this morning, because with yet another early start it began to get more and more difficult to get out of bed. We got ready to leave the house at 8:30, and got onto the highway headed for Maine. Today would be a college visiting day for CeCe at UNE, or University of New England, and I got to tag-along. During the car-ride we got to watch almost all of Brave, as it took quite a while to get there. For some reason I liked that movie better now that I've seen it for the second time than I did for the first time! When we got to campus we were first given an introduction/presentation and then all of the potential new students were divided into smaller groups for the tour-guides. We were put into Angela's group, one of the seniors at the University, and she was a really good public speaker! Like, I always feel like there's a very high make it or break it factor when it comes to people trying to promote a programme or school, and she definitely made it! CeCe to really like this school, despite the fact that they still used chalkboards in the classrooms. Personally I got a bit of a double feeling from this school. While they were offering some very promising and interesting programmes, the looks of it reminded me so much of primary school! Like, the colours used on the walls and doors: Old green and yellow. And the amount of times that there were posters hanging on the walls, with supposedly insightful information on them, all typed in Comic Sans. That is just cringe-worthy for me.

What was cool about this school, though, was that it was situated right at an estuarium. This meant that because it is directly connected to the ocean, the school offered a very broad oceanic/marine-studies programme as well. So at the school itself there were very large aquariums for example, and giant basins full of fish. I thought it was very cool that this research all happened at the school itself.

For lunch we stopped at a place called 99, if I remember correctly, and I had some shrimps with fries. Continuing the road back home to Georgetown, we watched a bit of Frozen together.

After having arrived back home I chilled for a bit as CeCe and Amy went out to the hairdressers, and I even skyped with my mum which was nice. :) About then it was time for me to get ready for the semi-formals at Pingree that night, so I put on the blue dress which I'd bought at Forever 21 yesterday night and put on my make-up. With light snacks for dinner, and final preparations we were ready to go to the dance. CeCe's boyfriend came to pick us up (his name is either Bryan or Ryan but I'm still not sure which) and he'd bought CeCe one of those pretty flower-wristlets you see in American series like Pretty Little Liars, and he'd gotten me some flowers as well. I thought that was so sweet! We took our photos and hopped into the car looking all fancy. The dance itself, however, was nothing like I was used to. There was a photobooth, which was fun! And there was loads of candy and pastries... However, not loads of people. Coming from a school with 2000 students, at least, of which the majority show up to the Christmas dance each year I was used to something a bit more lively and crowded than what I experienced here. According to CeCe this was like 90% freshmen, and 10% sophomores. I've learned, by the way, that I would be a junior in America. Somehow their entertainment-span was shorter as well, because we left the dance about an hour after we got there. It was fun though, getting to experience something like that! Back in the car I wasn't informed about the following plans, but it turned out we were going to Justin's house, who is one of (B)Ryan's friends. I just went along with them. Justin and this girl, who I think was his sister, had baked cookies which we could eat, and we played pool in their game-room until we were picked up again.

There's nothing on the planning for me tomorrow. All I know is that this family will be visiting the Purcell's. I'm really glad that I don't need to set my alarm for tomorrow morning, and that I can just stay in bed for as long as I want. Respectfully, that is.

Goodnight everyone!
xxx

American Friday

With an early start again today, waking up with a bowl of cereal, I got to join CeCe to Pingree once more. With the same ritual as the previous days we were taken to the bus-stop, hopped on the yellow bus and were dropped off in front of the school. On Mondays and Fridays, Pingree starts the schoolday a little differently. All the students gather in the auditorium for morning-meeting; usually set up around a theme. Today's theme was Chinese New Year, even though that was in February. The woman announcing it claimed that it was belated because of the numerous snow-days they had had during the winter. First of all, the teachers gave kind of a silly, Chinese fashion show, which the students could laugh about. Then a video was played about several Chinese facts, and it was created by students as well. The 'silly' thing kind of continues onto this. After the video was shown, twenty people were called upstage to go against each other in a kind of game-show quiz idea. It was quite fun to watch! Last but not least, they had people come up to stage to race against each other in the 'chopstick challenge', wherein every component had to move three popcorns from one plate to another by the use of the chopsticks. After this the bell rang, meaning that the classes would soon begin.

It's kind of strange that I can't remember this, but I don't really know the order in which things happened today anymore... :p I think we started with Chemistry, where there was a guest-teacher trying out for possible job at Pingree. He was a very friendly teacher and very enthusiastic about teaching as well. Even though I didn't understand a thing about the chemistry, I'm sure he must have been enjoyable for the class. After this, again if I am writing this correctly, CeCe had like an hour off, so we had the time to get a drink, finish the last bits of her project and get me a Pingree sportshirt. I'm already starting to think that I've the order of today all messed up, but I'll just leave it like this for now. ;) When the time came for a short break we had tortilla-chips with chili-sauce, and it was awesome. Like, I wish we were just provided snacks and drinks and lunch out our school in that way. After this CeCe had another free period, which we used to go see the dance-class. They were practicing for their spring performance, and because they were almost finished I couldn't join, but I still got to watch and that was fun as well! So after that we had lunch. (this is a mess, nothing about this is correct, I'm so sorry!) Quesadillas and ice-cream. I was in heaven. Wishing that such a thing could be possible at our school as well. After that was Spanish and History, and I am quite certain that those were the last classes, so at least I'm sure about that ;) CeCe would still have two hours of Lacrosse practice, so Amy picked me up and dropped me off at the house where I read in Since You've Been Gone for a little while. I'm really starting to love that book already! At 4:30 Amy, Carson and I went to go pick up Deuce at a friend's house and then CeCe and Bryan (her boyfriend) from school again so that we could go to the mall. CeCe, Bryan and I had dinner there at Chicken-Fill-A while Amy, Carson and Deuce went out for dinner and a movie elsewhere. After food we popped into Forever 21 in search of a dress and shoes to wear to the semi-formals which will be tomorrow. It's quite funny how their dance starts at around 7 and finishes at about 9:30, while in the Netherlands 9:30 would kind of mean the beginning of it! It probably has its reasons. ;) When we succeeded in shopping there we looked around in a shop called the Brainstore for a very long time. It's this really cool shop where they have all kinds of interesting games and puzzles to get your brain-flow going. They had everything! It was one of those shops that both kids and adults would get lost in. Plus, you could like try almost everything in there out for yourself! So we spent a very long time goofing around in there. Just before closing time we went to go get a frozen yoghurt at Tutti Frutti, and it is soooo delicious. I honestly think that I will leave America all blown up by food because there's just so much good stuff that I love to try!!

So tomorrow I'll be travelling through the states with Amy and CeCe to visit the University of New England in southern Maine. A university situated directly at the coast, which should be nice! And then at night we'll have the dance. I'm really looking forward to it all!

Goodnight!
xxxx

Helping out at Breuer & Co.

I was very thankful to have my alarm set for 7 o'clock today, and even more thankful that I slept the whole way through to it. Starting the day with a good night's sleep and toast with eggs and bacon for breakfast made a huge difference for the rest of it. So today was going to be the day I joined Amy to her office. Firstly we had to drop off CeCe at the busstop in Boxford like we'd done the day before, and then Amy and I continued on to the highway to get to Wakefield. Her office building was situated in a park called Edgewater, and she informed me that it used to be an amusement park until somewhere in the 1960's. So it actually used to look like this:

And now it looks like this:

At her work she first gave me a tour of the very fancy building, and I was introduced to many of her colleagues. They were all very friendly, and interested in my being from the Netherlands and all. ;) Breuer is the name of the main company that Amy works for, but that can be divided under two subgroups. One of which is Veracross, and that is the one situated in this building, and so the one Amy works for. It is a company that creates software for international preparatory schools. So for example, Pingree is one of the schools they work with, but the International School of Amsterdam is as well! After introductions and a tour we got coffee and tea and started a much needed task. As the company had just moved into this pretty new building (I'm telling you, marble in the lobby, golden elevators, fountains, you name it!) There were still a lot of things that needed to be unboxed and sorted out in the building, so I was glad to help out with that. I actually like organising things, so long as it's not my own room, so I quite enjoyed doing this with Amy and her colleagues. For lunch we went downstairs into a large cafeteria and ordered a wrap and some fries. We ate it looking out to this big pond from he windows in the lunchroom. Not long after lunch and some more organising DeWitt and Carson came to pick me up, and we drove back to Georgetown together. While all the guys went out for a couple of hours, I met with miss Flynn again, who came to clean up the house a little. She was upset about missing her soap operas due to a trip to the doctor's, but was glad that she could still see her talkshow (of which I can't remember the name at present). She knew all the make-up do's and don't's, and so got to say 'didn't I tell you so' each time after the 'expert' on tv showed us on her clients. We talked about dressing and shopping some more, and right before she left I took on some reading in Since You've Been Gone. I'm really enjoying it so far!

Thereafter I went on a short shopping-spree to Crosby's with DeWitt to get the last things for dinner and dessert. Because, I don't know if it's just because I'm here, every day is a dessert day here! For dinner we had spaghetti with meatballs, garlic-bread, salad and grapes. Dessert was brownie and ice cream for me <3. When dinner was finished I helped CeCe a little bit with her history project, as she needed to make a big poster and I could lend a hand by cutting out some pictures and texts. Tomorrow will be another day at Pingree for me again, so I'd better go to sleep!

Goodnight!!
xxx

My First American Schoolday at Pingree

One has to show some dedication when you want to experience an American schoolday. My alarmclock was set for 6 AM, and yet my stupid jet-lag woke me up even earlier than that. We had breakfast and then left the house by car at 7:10, in order to arrive at the bus-stop on time. Over there CeCe and I were picked up by a small yellow schoolbus, driven by a very friendly woman. Once I got inside, the girls sitting in it were really excited to meet me. Most of them were friends of CeCe's, and what I noticed about them the most is how open they were. Like, nothing was held back by these girls. They sang, talked about their classmates in a very respectful way, and gave lots of compliments to each other. It was in the bus that I was first introduced to the word 'cleats', which are kind of like hockey-shoes in the Netherlands. However, these weren't for hockey, these were for Lacrosse. A game that I had never seen being played live in front of me until today.

Once at school, which was 8 o'clock, we went to a room with some old sofas in it for a day-starter called 'advisory'. It's kind of like what we would call our mentor-hour in Holland. Pingree has this interesting tradition of sending out an e-mail to all of the students each morning, stating the announcements of the day, the birthdays among faculty and students, the games that will be played that day, as well as interesting things that happened on that day in history and a daily quote. This is basically what was being discussed with the advisor-teacher as well. The little group of students, around 6 if I remember correctly, could use this time to bring up anything they wanted. Out of advisory we went into history, which was quite a fun and interesting lesson actually! Pingree is a private school, and I could really tell the difference with what I'm normally used to. The classes sum up to about 13 people, and this makes it possible for there to be a real conversation with the teacher. That is, instead of a teacher just throwing information at you and skipping questions because there is no time. And I say that coming from a school where lessons take 65 minutes. Over at Pingree, one lesson lasts 45 minutes. Although I thought that was very short when CeCe told me, with this way of teaching it seemed like the perfect amount of time! History, though, was what they call a long hour at Pingree today. Meaning that the lesson took 65 minutes. Mrs. P taught the class about World War One and I was glad that I could kind of participate in that. Sadly, I didn't remember much of what I'd previously learned. Which I always think is a shame! While the class discussed things, she passed around a box of Dunkin' Donuts multiple times. Which I accepted gratefully, of course. Walking through the school after that I kind of discovered a pattern in how the chairs and tables in the classrooms were situated. Most of the classrooms had them in a circle, once again really enabling class-discussion. I thought this was super interesting, because it truly did seem to work. It creates less of a distant feeling between the teacher and the student, as well as between one student and another.

The next class we went to was Spanish, and it was in the old, original part of the building. The majestically large school used to be an old farmhouse, with loads of rooms where the workers would sleep at night. Those rooms were now classrooms, and they had a beautiful, beautiful view over the lake and forest. Spanish was sadly done by a substitute teacher, meaning that the students only had to finish their homework. As I don't understand a word of Spanish, I couldn't really participate in this... But I had a good time looking at photos of my cat on my phone. ;) There was a small break after Spanish, and when we got to the cafeteria CeCe asked me whether I liked goldfish. I had no idea. I mean, I knew she didn't mean actual, live fish. I'd seen the boxes of crisps in my barbie collection when I was younger. So I had some typically American Goldfish crisps then. :)

The following thing on our schedule was chemistry, which I didn't understand one bit of, but the teacher was a very nice and friendly woman so I made sure she got the feeling that I was paying close attention. English class started after that, and it was taught by a man who was kind of nuts, and it's probably okay that I call him that as he called himself a whackjob. The class was busy with a book called the Odyssey, and their task was to write their own Odyssey. Even though I had never read this book, the teacher tried really hard to get me to write one as well.

For lunch we went to the cafeteria and had fritata, bacon, sausages and French toast. French toast kind of tastes like Oliebollen without the raisins, I discovered. My plate was overloaded, because I kind of wanted to try everything, but once I finished CeCe gave me a little tour around and in the school. It's amazing how large the property is! There's a long lane leading up to the school, the main building, an athletic centre, an ice-hockey ring, multiple sports-fields going from tennis to lacrosse to soccer to American football... And then this school is very special as well, because it has a great deal of a forest as well, including a big lake. We took photos together and checked out some more things until CeCe had to go get ready for her Lacrosse game. I watched the whole thing from a bench, practice included, and got so incredibly cold and tired that I thought I was going insane. The game was great! But I almost couldn't enjoy it because of the cold wind that had started gusting from the moment they hit the field. The jet-lag is definitely kicking in now... Fatigue is taking over my body, sadly. So I will call it an early night tonight and see what tomorrow will bring when I join Amy to her office.

Goodnight!
xxx

Starting out small

Wow, that's probably a word I've used a little too much today. Almost all the time because of things that are unnecessarily big. My work placement I started out small, though, which was perfect for a day spent still a little bit tired from the time difference.

For starters, I woke up with a message from my mum, asking me if it was okay if she'd call. Knowing that calling would cost 2 euros a minute, I suggested that we'd skype instead. It was lovely seeing her, and speaking with her for a moment. Shortly after that I went on a little research as to how to work the shower, which didn't appear to be so difficult after all. For breakfast I had a bagel with cream-cheese and some sort of Danish dessert. It wasn't anything I'd be allowed to eat for breakfast in the Netherlands, I'll have you know. ;) I was also so relieved to discover that the milk tastes the same here. It is such a pet-peeve of mine to be in a country where the milk just tastes like it came from anything but a cow.

After breakfast I joined DeWitt to his office, and I helped him out with his contacts-administration until it was time for lunch. This was my first trip to what they call a 'small' grocery store here. It's not small, at all. In fact, I think it may be bigger than our regular supermarket in the Netherlands... Or at least equal in size! However, the aisles or stuffed in a way that I've yet to experience in Holland. Every squared centimetre is put to use here. I wish I'd taken a photo! Back at home for lunch I met miss Flynn (I hope I spelled her name correctly), she's a lady who's been taking care of the children in the house ever since they were little. So when their parents were out, she was always there to pick them up from friends or to take them to sports-practice and other things like that. We chatted shortly about how glad we both were that summer clothes were getting back in stores, and she made me my first, real-American, grilled cheese. Boy, was it delicious. I'm actually really glad she did that for me, because when DeWitt told me I could have anything for lunch I didn't really know what to do. I mean, I had my sandwiches, but not a thing in the fridge seemed to be a thing fit for putting on them. At least not with my vision. So now that I know how to make myself a grilled cheese, I suppose I will be binging on those for lunch the next couple of weeks.

Recharged by my warm sandwich we went back to the office where I finished my task and waited until we could go back to the grocery store (which is called Crosby's, by the way) for dinner. I took a little longer strolling around this time, and noticed the humongous variety of beer and wine they offered. Like, I thought we had a great deal of brands in Dutch stores... But this was just aisle after aisle after aisle. For dinner we had casseroles, which is kind of like risotto. It's rice in a thick batter, with chicken and peas, with salad and garlic bread on the side. Over dinner I was kind of told what the plan was for the rest of the week, and I'm really excited! :) Tomorrow I will join CeCe to Pingree, which is a private school. This does mean that I'll need to be ready to leave at 07:10 to make it to the (yellow!!!) schoolbus. On thursday I will join Amy to the company she works for and I'll help out there. Then on Friday I will be at Pingree again. Saturday is going to be a very special day, as I will be joining CeCe and Amy as they go check out a College. After that we're gonna go shopping, because I'm allowed to join CeCe to a school dance that night! They call it a semi-formal, and I'm really excited. :)

I kind of wanted to type more, but I'm really tired and I still need to look some things up about World War One so that I can more easily join the history class tomorrow. The little (big) things that I wanted to mention here as well I'll leave for another day.

Goodnight!
xxx

I made it!!

My first blogpost from the United States! Let's see how I'll maintain these ;) Wow! What a day! I underestimated how long an 8 hour flight would feel. I actually just accidentally typed 8 flour height, so that about sums it up!

Let's start from the beginning. At about 11:30 I took off for the airport with my mum, brother and sister. At this point I was already very nervous. The first things at the airport, such as finding the right departure area, I could luckily still do together. After that, however, it all came down to me. I will admit that I had a bit of a panic attack when I only had to leave for a couple of minutes to get my suitcase checked in. That first moment alone was somehow the scariest! I still got to walk back to say my last goodbyes and luckily that wasn't too loaded. We waved until we could no longer see each other, and then I was really on my own. That was a very strange feeling! Leaving your family behind like that. I was nervous more than I was sad, although I'm sure that I will start missing them after a while!

Anyhow, the customs service people in the Netherlands were very friendly. Strict, but friendly. They made sure to keep the atmosphere kind of light so that you wouldn't be too nervous. Which was very nice! The guy who helped me genuinely was interested in what I told him about why I was going to America. Not just in a sceptical way. Safety check and hand-baggage check was okay as well, nothing that bothered me about it! After that I didn't need to wait long to board the airplane. However, the waiting for the plane to take off did seem to take so long! We stood still for a very long time, and even when we started moving we had several kilometres to drive to get to the right lane. Finally, eventually, we went up into the air. And from that point on I can sum the flight up in three things: Getting stuffed with food and drinks, watching movies and calculating when it's the right time to go to the bathroom. If there's one thing I've learned from this trip by myself, it's that a window-seat is not worth it when you're travelling by yourself. It's so annoying when you have to ask your sleeping neighbour to move out of the aisle because you've been holding it out for a little too long trying not to wake him up. Like, if those were my friends or family I wouldn't mind. But of these people I didn't even know what language they spoke! Another thing I've learned for next time: Ask a flight attendant how to turn off the air-conditioning. That thing is so cold, so loud, and made my face itch so much during the flight. It was really getting on my nerves. Funny thing is, I couldn't really hear what the flight-attendants were saying because of this. So every time they were approaching with food and there was a choice I tried to listen from the rows before me what they could pick between. However, one time I understood: Strawberry or vegetarian? And I couldn't see what we'd get as it was in a little box, so I chanted 'strawberry!' Only to get a ham-sandwich afterwards, with chocolate mousse. So I guess I must have kind of confused her there.. ;) I watched two movies on the flight, Into The Woods and Interstellar. Both of which I found really good! And for the rest I watched Once Upon a Time. Sleep was non-negotiable in my seating placement, so I'm glad that I'll be in a different seat when I return home at night in two weeks.

As we descended into Boston Logan Airport, the first thing I saw when we reached beneath the clouds was power-plants. Followed by houses in all kinds of different colours, typically Boston, I hear. When I got off the plane the biggest difference was the way I was treated at customs. At first I had to go to a little self-service point, where you had to confirm your ESTA information. This service point then also took the freedom of taking a beautiful photo of my 8-hour-flight-face. One eye bigger than the other and my face red with spots because of the stupid air-conditioning. It actually allowed me to take another one but I just laughed and went ahead. It printed a little customs-pass for me which I then had to take to a customs-desk. The already-bitter-looking man asked how I was doing, but obviously didn't care as I was immediately told to put my fingers on the screen so that he could check my prints. It was such a big difference with the customs in the Netherlands! He basically asked the same questions, but did it without a single glimpse of friendliness. That must be such a tough and awful job to have! Out of customs I went to look for my suitcase, which, of course, had to come as one of the last so I spent the entire time nervous and thinking it wouldn't have made it. But there it was, and so was I, so I could make it to the exit. Over there I met with DeWitt and CeCe, who greeted me with open arms and took me home with them.

In Georgetown I was welcomed with a nice pink banner made by Carson, and Chloe, the dog, immediately came up to lick me. It's incredible how welcome this family makes me feel! For dinner we had steak, which was lovely but a little heavy on my tummy as in my head it was supposed to be past midnight. I'm currently ready to sleep in a big double bed in my own bedroom in the basement. I even got a welcome gift, with shampoo, conditioner, soap, a notebook and a novel! So sweet :) I was also really glad that they loved the gift I got them <3

Well, I'm about to go find out just exactly how many layers of blankets and pillows there are on this bed and get ready to sleep. It is currently 21:50 here in Massachusetts and so almost 4 A.M real feel.

Goodnight!
xxx Eva

9 More Days!

Although I'm still having a hard time believing it myself, I'm going to have to get 'round to realising that there are only 9 more days left before my plane takes off to the States!

It's amazing how quickly time flies, and it kind of makes it all that bit more scary. I will be travelling to Boston all on my own on the 20th of April, making it my first ever solo-trip. How exciting!! I'm really hoping to share my experience with you all while I'm there, which will be until the 4th of May. This also means that I will be sharing my birthday, on the 2nd of May, without a single family member! Still, I'm optimistic and sure that I will have a terrific time with my host family and that they will take great care of me. It's going to be amazing!

Wait a minute... Did I even tell you all about what I'm going to do there and why? I think not! Well, here it goes:

I've been following a bilingual programme at my school in the Netherlands since I was 12 years old. This programme requires all of the students to go on an international work placement for at least one week. It's really awesome, because over the next couple of weeks my classmates and friends will be all over the world! Some are going to America, some to England, others to Africa and the Himalayas or Australia and New Zealand! It's insane! For my work placement I will be joining the girl I will be staying with in America to her private High School in South-Hamilton. How cool is that? A real American high school! Let me tell you, my expectations are super high! ;) Then for the rest of the week I will probably join her mother to her work to help the company she works for with a great move. The next week is completely up for fun, exploring and meeting other people. So basically, these promise to be some very special weeks for me! :)

Strangely enough, it's the travelling by plane itself that makes me the most nervous. I've only ever flown on a plane once, and that was with about 30 of my closest friends for a class exchange. However, this time I will be flying absolutely solo. It's not exactly the flying itself that I'm nervous about, rather the things that I need to do at the airport in order to get on the right plane! :') Finding gates, going through security and whatnot. I genuinely believe that I will become a whole different person after this experience. So much more independent and world-wise than before.

Fingers crossed for a safe trip and that I won't forget to pack anything important!

Lots of love, and I will keep you updated!

Eva

A Favourite Place of Mine

My lovely Turkish friend, Deren, recently asked me in a letter whether I had a favourite place to visit in my home city. I didn't have to think long before answering that. While I could have told her many things, like my favourite ice cream shop or my favourite restaurant, I chose to tell her about the off-the-beaten track road just outside the rural area of my city. My mother had once taken me there on a sunny autumn afternoon, and I just loved the atmosphere there! So when my sister was feeling a little ill last week, and the spring sun was shining brightly onto my face as I studied for my math-exam, I decided I would show her this hidden treasure.

Trying to explain why I love it there so much is difficult, as it really is nothing more than a tiny grassy road in between two large meadows. I think it has something to do with the fact that I've only ever been there on sunny days, and returned with that heavenly rosy feeling stuck on my cheeks. Or maybe just because it's so quiet out there, and that you are unlikely to walk into anyone else albeit the occasional child living on the farm aligning to it. Or maybe it is the childish goal that this long walk seems to have for me: The tiny wooden bridge crossing the stream to get to the meadow. Such a simple thing, and yet it can excite me now as much as it could when I was younger.

I love taking long walks with people. Something about it just enforces the best of conversations to come forth. There are so many people I wish I could show this place, and there are so many people I wish I could take long walks with. Someday, somewhere I believe these wishes will be granted to me somehow. And if not, then my stubborn-ass will simply make it happen. ;)

What is your favourite place to visit in your home town? Who would you like to take long walks with? Let me know in the comments, or better: Write your own piece about it and direct me to it! :)

Thank you sis, for going on this lovely-spring walk with me!

Kisses,

Eva