Locks of Love

Last week I did something that I have only done one other time in my life: I got my hair cut dramatically shorter so that I could donate the length of it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that uses donated hair to create custom hair prosthetics for children who cannot afford them and have lost their hair due to some uncontrolable medical condition. This is an incredibly worthy cause and I think that anyone who is able to grow their hair long should, at some point, give a gift of it to a child who will greatly benefit from it. If you need any motivation, just imagine what it would have been like to go through middle school with no hair. Check out their webpage for pictures of the children and more info on donating. locksoflove.org

Carnival!

Jerry and Sam

Shannon and Sam

Elaborate!

Drum corp of middle-aged ladies.  They were pretty good!

The Dutch know how to party!  Carnival began last Friday evening and didn't get over until last night.  It has been four and a half days of costumes, music, parades, food, and (for most participants) drink.  The legal age of consumption for the duration of the festivities was 16.  My favorite part was checking out the people and their costumes.  I have never seen so many elaborate costumes on so many people of all different ages.  Some people were obviously dressed as something, but the overall theme seemed to be to dress as loudly and outrageously as possible with as many feathers and sequins as could be attached to the body.  And each one was so unique that it was obvious that most people, to various extents, make their own costumes!  No cheap flimsy stuff from Wal-mart!  There were impromptu parades that blocked whole streets anytime a group of people decided to go anywhere.  And the party went all day and all night.  We have had groups swaying and singing there way up our street at all hours of the day and night.  It was some intense celebration, though I was amazed that it took four days to get it all out of their systems.  Today there are city clean-up crews out trying to get all the shards of glass out of the cobbles and sweep up the confetti.  For those of you who don't know (I didn't before now), Carnival is a time to get all your pent up sins out so that you can get ready for Lent and therefore be at your holiest for Easter.  It's a bit of a strange concept to me, and I am sure that to the general populace there is little religious tradition left in their motivation for celebration, just like all the other Catholic holidays that are now just cultural traditions.  But it was fun anyway!

All my life Europe was always just a place I'd read about, mostly in high school history classes (and we all know how much useful information is available there) so I didn't really know what to expect when I got off the plane.  I'd imagined what it might be like to go there, but I never really expected to actually stand on a street corner in an amazing city and think to myself, "I can't believe it.  I am really truly in another country, halfway around the world from where I was born."  It is an incredibly surreal experience.  If it weren't so beautiful, and if everyone wasn't speaking Dutch, I almost wouldn't believe that I am here.  Maastricht, Netherlands.  Being American, a Western American at that, the oldest city I have ever lived in was maybe a couple hundred years old.  Maybe.  Maastricht has been a city since the Roman Empire built a bridge over the river Maas.  I don't know if there are any relics left from that time, but it is amazing to me to think about all the thousands of lives that have been lived here since.  I suppose that could be true of nearly any spot of ground on the whole planet.  I am probably more conscious of it because the history is so much more obvious when there is a cathedral a several centuries old across the street.

 The city is beautiful.  I love that so much history has been preserved, even as the society has become very modern.  We went to an open air market this morning and I was a bit surprised at what was for sale: lots of fish (it's Friday, you know) some fruits and vegetables, a few stalls of luggage, clothes, and acres of fabric.  More fabric than I have ever seen at one place, and it was all beautiful.  The picture shows only the tiniest fraction of the stalls.  But there was no yarn!  I am really rather disappointed.  I find it hard to believe that the Dutch sew so much and yet nobody knits. 

Last moments in the USA

The view from the kitchen table.  It looks cold, huh?

Light of my life!

Ours is the building the middle, third floor

Yum!

Friday market

A cathedral that has been turned into a bookstore

Well, I doubt this has been wildly anticipated by anyone, but it is with great excitement that I present the launch of my blog!  Herein will be chronicled the everyday adventures of my life.  I will also include opinions as I see fit to share, but I promise I wont ever go "Micheal Savage" and start screaming and ranting, even if I do feel strongly about the topic at hand.  Additionally, I hope that any readers I may acquire will keep in mind that this is my forum, they are welcome to have their own where they too may pontificate at will, and I would appreciate it if the nasty, you-are-an-imbecile-for-thinking-that, comments could be kept to a minimum.  That being said, let it all begin!