It`s Hailing Right Now!

Here I am... sitting inside a warm little internet cafe, dripping wet, in my sandals no doubt - while it`s POURING outside. Im talking, California does not know what rain is. God is literally throwing buckets of water on my head as i run (yes,run) through the sophisticated streets of Zurich - in my ever loyal flip flops, dodging hail (though it feels more like ice cold BB`s.) It`s quite a scene. Now that you know my present state ... let me catch up a bit.

While we were in Prague, we had a chance to see Amsterdam over the weekend. I wasnt planning on going, but figured it`s not really somewhere i picture visiting with my kids someday, so i might as well see it now or else who knows if i ever will. Plus, I was looking forward to seeing Anne Franks house. Anyways... we took a night train to Amsterdam (gotta love night trains) and arrived in the beautiful Netherlands early in the morning. Once we squared away a place to stay for the night (another thrilling task with luggage that now weighs more than i do in hand - dragging it all over the city till we could find somewhere...) We took off with a map in hand and went on a mission to find Anne Franks house. Now, there were three things i was interested in seeing, two especially.
Top of the list, Number ONE: Visiting Anne Franks house
Number Two: Visiting the Van Gogh Museum
and Number Three: I thought itd be an enlightening experience for me to see the red light district.

So... back to trying to find number one.... a good hour passes, we find that we`re almost there, and just as we turn the corner to her house... we see a crowd of people huddled around the window. I squeezed my way through to find a paper sign taped to the window that said "Anne Franks house will be closed ALL DAY on Saturday, September 25, 2004. It will reopen Sunday at 9:00am." Funny thing was, we were leaving at six in the morning on Sunday . Err... What can you do? We took a picture in front of the sign, laughed it off, and tried to not think about the fact that we spent a good 36 hours of travel for the one place that was to be closed the entirety of our trip. Dang.
Number two: The Van Gogh did NOT give student discounts and did charge a good $15 to get in... but at this point, we figured it was worth it. Unfortunately... I think i had set my expectations too high. The one piece I was looking most forward to, I found out is located in New York. I dont know how i missed that. But oh well. They had an Eduard Manet (not Monet) exhibit going on... (he paints lots of sail boats and ocean scenes - reminded me of my Grandpa)... so that was somewhat redeeming.
And Number three: This one turned out to be the most memorable part of my trip. Id heard stories before about how prostitutes stood in store windows - for sale... and how liberal the government is with drugs, but I still didnt know what to expect. I think its just one of those things you can only prepare so much for - and plus I didnt want prepare too much - that way it could be more real. Well.. my understanding of what smoking is like there was wrong. I had assumed that since marijuana is legal, people smoke it as commonplace as they do cigarettes in the US, however, (Im not sure what the law actually is) it seemed more like the way California is with alcohol. No one just stands at the bus stop with a joint in hand, but its perfectly legal in homes, and in cafes... im guessing u just cant consume it on public property... hence my connection with it to alcohol in CA. I also did myself a favor and visited the Cannabis Museum... otherwise called, Cannabis College (haha) and further educated myself on it. Ive personally never smoked the stuff, but for different reasons have developed an odd, closet (not anymore) passion for understanding why people love it, as well as why im against it, and whether or not the US government deals with it properly (which im still forming opinion on.) Anyway... I have a lot to learn, and would appreciate any commentary you may have on the matter. That part of Amsterdam was interesting...

The rest, was completely heartbreaking. First, let me say, that Holland, or the Netherlands, whatever you want to call it.. is like two extremes. Theres the one side... beautiful countryside, sheep, little blonde haired boys and girls with ringlets, wooden shoes, canals, and the adorable dollhouse architecture of the city....
and then theres the other extreme... the Red Light District... Men peeing in the street - in BROAD DAYLIGHT, pornography plastered everywhere - i dont think theres a word for censorship in Dutch, different drug dealers that in an average of two hours (in my experience anyways) approach you at least 6 times wondering if youd be interested in cocaine or ecstasy, and lastly, girls that have hit rock bottom, who literally stand in a window, in their underware, with no sign of emotion on their faces, beckoning for the men passing by to come in.
There`s no "caution" sign when one crosses over from one side to the next... but a definte invisible line separates the two - because they are like night and day. Without warning, I turned the corner, and immediately was aware of a difference in the air.
It began to hit me as we were suddenly surrounded by porn and sex shops... and before i knew it, brothels. The first time i realized what i was looking at, i was in shock. I stood on the sidewalk, in disbelief, with an overwhelming sense of heaviness on my heart...trying to process. I know theres prostitution in LA... so its not like they were the first prostitutes ive ever seen... but theres something about standing in front of an institution that not only tolerates it, but encourages it, coupled with seeing the emptiness on their faces... that simply made me cry. By the end of our night, it was a common occurance to pass by these brothels... i can no longer count how many i saw... but with each one, my heart went out. We took a few minutes to pray for those girls and the men of the city - Im thankful I cant imagine any more than what I saw.
::Lord, be with those girls. Teach them of their value. Please help them find hope.::

Well, by the end of the night, we were exhausted. I went to bed early (imagine that) and we made the all day train ride back to our hostel in Prague the next day. We left so early because we thought we had to be home by Sunday night in order to leave for Auschwitz on Monday... and turns out when we got home, that they pushed it back to Wednesday. (meaning, we couldve seen Anne Franks house... err)

Wow... that little update on my 24 hour experience turned out a lot longer than i had planned. I think the rain has finally stopped here, so i should take advantage of this opportunity and get back to my hostel before the weather knows of my plan. I`ll write more when I can. Im trying my hardest not to be insanely jealous of the weather report i just checked online... Home sweet home will be a sunny 85 degrees today. You lucky kids. Have fun.

Missing everyone. Past the halfway point!

Love, love, love, Melody