Good day, Sunshine.

For our first free weekend, I went to Amsterdam. I had only heard stories of the beauty and craziness that is found there. Basically, the city lived up to (and surpassed) the stories and my expectations.

We were able to get in early on Friday, so we went to the Ann Frank House. This was a very moving and well-done museum. When in the house, you could barely glimpse what it was like to be cooped up, hiding from capture in the attic of the building. I always love to hear that there were kind-hearted people willing to risk their lives for the Jewish population (even in times of struggle). The workers of Otto Frank were willing to risk their lives everyday to buy them food to survive in the attic. Of the many Holocaust texts out, this is definitely one of the most influential. I feel lucky that this text is so well read around the world— that way we can prevent history from repeating.

We did many other activities during our weekend, including Van Gogh museum, Heineken experience, and beach bumming. By far my favorite and most memorable activity was the FREE 3-hour walking tour through the city. The guide took us through much of the history and interesting monuments around town. There is so much beauty and culture found in Amsterdam that makes it truly unique. The one theme that kept repeating throughout its history was the idea of tolerance. If only other countries could instill such values. The people of Amsterdam have stood up for the rights of others countless times over the years. This I think is the most beautiful thing about Amsterdam.

This trip was also my first experience in a hostel. I may enjoy having my own space and bathroom to do as a please, but hostels are a great way to meet new people from all over the world. We took a shuttle to our hostel in Noordwijk, Matt, the guy who drove the shuttle several times during our stay, was from South Africa working his way through the world. The title of the blog came from the Beatles song, which he told us was his “theme” song. We also meet many other students from Texas A&M who were traveling through. In our room, we even met a doctor that is doing his residency at Parkland in Dallas. There was such a diverse group of people to meet, talk to, and hear their stories…this really fit with the values of Amsterdam. I had a great time on our weekend trip and look forward to going back after the program finishes.

Now back to Germany we go…I am excited for further exploration.