A Random Day

I had another hard night sleeping last night. I forget what time I went to bed, but when I did I was exhausted. But then, as usual, around 3:30 a.m., I was wide awake. I think a mosquito woke me up initially, but then I was hot and then I started sweating. It wasn't hot, and I don't know why I was sweating, but it felt to me like I had had a fever and the fever was breaking. I hoped it was nothing related to the hundreds of mosquito bites I've gotten in the past week. Well, maybe not hundreds, but definitely more than 20!

I e-mailed Machiel this morning and asked him if he could suggest a solution to the mosquito problem. His response was very practical - keep the windows closed when the lights are on, or something like that. But then he said, that might not be enough.

As I was on my way out because a cleaning person was coming at 9:45, I ran into Machiel in the stairway. He lives in the apartment below.

I showed him the little bottle of citronella oil and the little device I needed to diffuse it. He was familiar with the little thing and said he thought he had one someone in this apartment. He then said he would go out and look for something, either the thing I needed for the citronella oil or a mosquito net. He said he could get one in the big department store on Dam Square in the bedding section. I thought that was interesting. I wonder if most people have mosquito nets here. There must be a lot of mosquitoes with all of the water.

I wasn't sure where I wanted to ride because the weather was iffy. I decided to just do the same ride I did on Monday, which I knew fairly well - up the Amsteldijk to the windmill and then along a path along a canal that runs to Amsterdam Bos. From there I could hit Vondelpark or Rembrandt Park before getting back onto the city bike paths. It is a good ride through nice scenic places with very little traffic (bike, auto or pedestrian).

It started sprinkling about halfway through my ride. I couldn't believe my luck. On the days I didn't have a bike it was sunny and beautiful. The day I took the longest bike ride I probably will ever take, it was raining, and here again today it looked like it was going to be a repeat of Tuesday's weather. And, I didn't have my rain jacket with me. I stopped under trees and overpasses when the rain got hard, but mostly it was a light sprinkle.

I stopped in Vondelpark near a nice pond and was enjoying the view until I was joined by two Italian tourists. Vondelpark is full of tourists riding rented bikes. You can see them coming. The Dutch ride upright, straight, confidently, fast, and then the tourists come, wobbling on their bikes, usually in pairs or larger groups, usually on bikes of matching colors, usually doing things like riding on the grass instead of on a path.

I sat there a little longer, still enjoying the view even though I had to share it, when I noticed the sky was getting pretty dark and the wind had started whipping up. I decided it was time to stop flirting with the weather and just return home, thinking the cleaner had finished.

I returned to a nice, clean apartment (even though it was fairly clean before) - the sheets were changed, I had a fresh towel, the garbage was gone and there was a load of sheets in the washing machine. It looked like the cleaner wasn't finished.

I read the news online for a bit until I got very sleepy and then took a lovely nap. I must still be suffering from jetlag because it was very hard for me to get up from my nap. I fell into a deep sleep and when I woke up I wanted to just continue sleeping. I knew it was not a good idea because then I wouldn't sleep tonight, so I fought to get up, but it took me a good 10 minutes or more to get myself off of the sofa and up.

I decided to go to Albert Heijn to get some lettuce for a salad and see what else I could pick up for dinner.

As I was leaving, Machiel poked his head out of his apartment and showed me the mosquito net he bought. He said he went to the chemist to look for the little diffuser thing - we just call it "that thing" because neither one of us knows what it is called in English - I don't know if there is a Dutch name. Anyway, he said he found something, but not for the oil I had. I suspect he found what I found the other day when I went to the Albert Cuyp market. It was some plug in bug repellent thing but I didn't know what was inside and imagined it was more toxic than citronella oil.

So he showed me the mosquito net and I said, "I think that will probably be okay", to which he replied, "You think? Oh come on!" We both laughed and he went on to say, "Unless they have little scissors that they can cut their way through." while I was saying, "well, there might still be a way that they can get in, but I think it will be fine". We laughed again and he said he would put it up, as well as "pimp up" my apartment. He had some chairs for the deck and a table for the bedroom. I laughed at his use of "pimp up" - I wonder if he got that from MTV.

I was thinking about the intercultural communication aspects of that exchange - my use of "I think" as a way of softening my opinion, his interpretation of that as being sort of wishy-washy, and his directness in calling me out on my opinion, which he didn't think was strongly assertive enough. I got a chuckle out of it as I was walking over to Albert Heijn.

When I arrived, there was a large group of kids on the steps. They were maybe between 18 - 22 or in that range, maybe college students, maybe on a tour. I couldn't tell if they were local or not. The supermarket wasn't super crowded, but I was already freaked out by my walk over, dodging bikes and cars and weaving around large groups of slowing moving, walking in every direction, groups of tourists. I am really glad I am only here for a few more days because the hordes of tourists would really get to me if I had to stay any longer. They just make it really hard to get anywhere. I think the best way to avoid them is on a bike, but I am still a little freaked out riding my bike in the old part of town where it's more crowded.

I picked up some lettuce, carrots, etc., for salad, got a chicken tika masala dish with rice and contemplated buying a package of apple pancakes, but since I didn't know what to put on them and didn't see syrup or dulce de leche or anything like that, I passed. Good thing. I ended up with plenty of junk, including some really good little rice crackers I found that are kind of nacho cheese flavored. Happy to say I didn't buy more stroopwafels. I still have a package I have been eating one per day from after a binge over the weekend where I had several per day (after discovering the melty goodness they become on a cup of hot beverage).

I'm back in my newly cleaned, pimped out apartment and of course because I am not on my bike it is not raining. Tomorrow I think I am going to take a bike break, unless it is super sunny and clear. The weather says it's supposed to rain, so I don't really know. But I do know my legs are a little sore and I think it might be nice to go somewhere by train. Maybe it' time to go to Gouda and look for fresh stroopwafels....