Hostel Life, and Amsterdam

Hi again from Amsterdam! The last couple of days have been lots of fun.

The hostel I'm staying at, the Hotel Annemarie, is great fun. Every time I've been in the reception room I've met new people, and they're all travelers/backpackers without a lot of money but with a ton of excitement about seeing new places. It's great.

When I checked into the hostel the other day and got my bed assignment, I found I had a friend curled up on my bed - Andy. Andy is an adorable, playful black and white cat. I have since learned that establishments here are considered much cleaner if they have a cat because it means they don't have rats. Luckily I love cats - I don't know what they would do if someone were allergic.

My first night here I made friends with a group of Englanders from Northampton, and they were very nice to include me in the fun. One brilliant thing they introduced me to was "Stroop-waffels"(syrup-waffles) - these chewy sugary wafery treats they have everywhere here. I'm sure they're horrible for you, but they are amazing. Another friend I met that night was Lucien, otherwise known as Tiberius (the name actually suits him, if you can imagine), an Aussie who worked three jobs for a year to save money for his 6-month trek across and around Europe.

I literally spent the first day aimlessly wandering around, which was fantastic. A ton of people you meet on the street want to talk to you, because it's a really friendly city. I haven't had a chance to speak a word of Dutch because literally everyone speaks English, especially in big tourist areas. That's okay because I'm focused on learning Swahili (Nafahamu kiswahili kidogo = I understand Swahili a little bit).

Yesterday I did a free walking tour, and ended up making friends with Katie from Portland, and Ian and Fe from Australia. We all continued hanging out after the tour ended, and I'm meeting up with them again this morning. I'm excited because Ilana (who's also coming to Tanzania and blogging at http://ilanastanzanianadventure.blogspot.com/ ) is coming this afternoon. With her here, we can hit up the big museums and take a canal tour, things I've been waiting to do. Then Tuesday morning we're really off to Tanzania!

Bedankt!