  OK, not so much of a caper really, but it's been interesting. We had someone come to look at the room today, who is about to make his decision ASAP. By tomorrow we may have a new Roommate, J. Sweet guy, has a girlfriend, laid back and friendly sort of person. We shall see. We also did a couple of phone interviews, but if he's willing to put the money down, we're willing to take him. If this works out, the trip to Roanoke will be a go, which means 4 weeks in a row with dog sitters. My cousin, MS who I have mentioned, will be coming by this weekend as JWS will be out of town. Actually, he will be out of town for the next few weekends, so things may get a bit tricky with sitters. We have MS, and S who works with K, but those are the only other two who have been here before, and this will be MS's first time here so she may not be ready to help out again so soon.
It kinda cramps your style to have to drive from VA to the other side of DC twice a day. I plan on doing something nice for her trouble. As part of my new posting links fetish, I Googled "Secret Squirrel" today, and I was WAY more excited than I should have been to find urlLink this . Imagine, I took my nickname, turned it into what I thought was a creative blog name, and lo! I have discovered a cartoon show I previously knew nothing about. In honor of my new discovery, I will forever adore the person who buys me one of urlLink these . I'm posting another letter now, and that will bring us up to date with the Roommate/Landlord correspondence.
He hasn't written recently, so hopefully he will soon. I worry. Night all. July 6, 2004 I have unlocked the mystery. I now know the reason why my beverage of choice when out on social engagements is a cup of tea. It's not that I really even like tea that much...It's that when you get a cup of tea, regardless of the establishment's policy on free refills, you always get a free refill. No food service worker, regardless of the establishment's class, will say no when you request another cup of hot water. Then the tea-bag remains for a second cup. Sometimes even a third. I've found that as folks here are bussing the tables/bars while I'm drinking my tea they will take away the little dish and throw away the tea-bag if I'm not being vigilant.
I am now sure to strategically place the used tea-bag in a location between my arms that would require reaching into my personal space to retrieve. God, I'm a Jew. There are plenty of public urinals around Amsterdam. There are signs strategically placed around Amsterdam pointing to them which are remarkably inclusive. Besides just having the word "urinoir", a visual aid is also provided, showing a picture of a man urinating.
Street music is everywhere. There are dozens of folks all over Amsterdam on corners playing music, usually with creatively created instruments. Two of my favorites are the guitar and violin duo who play American rock songs of the 70's and the young girl who flutes on her dollar store recorder. There are tons of bums everywhere. I haven't taken any in with any personal interest, even though they are constantly coming up to me. Sometimes I tell them I might have something for them if I see them again, but I've never run into any twice. I haven't even again seen the English lad with blistered and tattooed hands who asked if he could borrow some money so he could afford to spend the night in the Christian youth hostel.
He made sure I knew it was a Christian hostel. I went to the Otherside cafe again. One of the Portuguese-Dutch I had met the other day was there. He nodded a hello my way, a kind gesture I was not expecting. That doesn't do anything to knock El Salvador off of the "greatest people in the world" pedestal. I'm not sure if lack of eye contact is a cultural thing. On my trips I typically make eye contact with people as I walk the streets and nod a simple hello. Here if someone catches me making eye contact they quickly look away. Either everyone feels a little guilty here or I'm just scary looking. The Black African immigrants here are about the only ones who can establish eye contact long enough for me to nod.
Of course right after that hello comes a pitch for cocaine or ecstasy. Cal was in a mood last night. One of the boys had put a paper towel in the toilet and caused it to overflow. He went on whining to me for a long time about the mischievous things they do, and how he is sick of running a brothel and may have an opportunity to run a hotel in Spain.
Yuan, the Asian fellow, got a lot of abuse from Cal. Whenever Cal wasn't looking he'd slip himself a little drink or try to offer his services outside of the bar so he could keep the entire cut of the money for himself. He kept jumping over to every man who walked in, often chasing them away before they could even order a drink from the bar. Amsterdam will probably be easy to forget. Tomorrow I am off for Latvia, and I can see Amsterdam becoming an insignificant little pleasure of this trip, even though I enjoyed it. I more enjoyed the time I spent in Szczecin with SZ's family. Perhaps that was because he was there. I'm going to the Ann Frank house today. I promised myself I would. It's the next stop.
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